Physical and biophysical assessment of highly fluorescent, magnetic quantum dots of a wurtzite-phase manganese selenide system

Combining fluorescence and magnetic features in a non-iron based, select type of quantum dots (QDs) can have immense value in cellular imaging, tagging and other nano–bio interface applications, including targeted drug delivery. Herein, we report on the colloidal synthesis and physical and biophysical assessment of wurtzite-type manganese selenide (MnSe) QDs in cell culture media. Aiming to provide a suitable colloidal system of biological relevance, different concentrations of reactants and ligands (e.g., thioglycolic acid, TGA) have been considered. The average size of the QDs is ∼7 nm, which exhibited a quantum yield of ∼75% as compared to rhodamine 6 G dye ® . As revealed from time-resolved photoluminescence (TR-PL) response, the near band edge emission followed a bi-exponential decay feature with characteristic times of ∼0.64 ns and 3.04 ns. At room temperature, the QDs were found to exhibit paramagnetic features with coercivity and remanence impelled by TGA concent...

Runjun Sarma, Queen Das, Anowar Hussain, Anand Ramteke, Amarjyoti Choudhury and Dambarudhar Mohanta

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