Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry

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Application of Quantum Dots in Biological Detection

CHU Congbo1, SHAN Yuping2*, WANG Hongda2*   

  1. (1.Jilin Province Water Resource and Hydropower Consultative Company,Changchun 130021,China;
    2.State Key laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry,Changchun Institute of
    Applied Chemistry,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022,China)
  • Received:2013-09-09 Revised:2013-11-07 Published:2014-04-10 Online:2014-04-10

Abstract: During the past ten years, the application of semiconductor nanocrystal material-quantum dots has displayed an increased tendency in scientific and industrial production fields, and a broad research is developed from materials science to biological applications. The application of quantum dots has substantially impacted on many research areas, such as biological imaging, phototherapy, drug/gene delivery, and solar cell. It is a key point to control the interactions between quantum dots and cell through adjusting surface properties of quantum dots. As the potential cytotoxicity of quantum dots arise, nanotoxicity becomes an important indicator of nanomaterials security assessment, and scientists pay more attention to the research of their potential toxicity. In this review we overviewed the properties of quantum dots, the applications in cell biology and the cytotoxicity research in biomedicine related field. Moreover, the future prospects for applications of quantum dots were briefly presented.

Key words: Quantum dots, biological application, fluorescence label, cytotoxicity

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