ZnO quantum dots (QDs) have been used in many biomedical applications such as bioimaging, cancer treatments and etc. Crystallinity, particle size, optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra of ZnO QDs were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy respectively. Interaction of ZnO QDs with insulin was investigated by fluorescence quenching, circular dichroism (CD), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and thermal aggregation tests. The fluorescence quenching results showed a static type quenching along with red shift in synchronize fluorescence (a sign of protein unfolding). CD spectroscopy results also confirmed this unfolding and show a reduction in alpha helices content of insulin in contact with ZnO QDs and their conversion to random coils. According to ITC results, the ΔG, ΔH and binding constant of this interaction are -32.35 kJ/mol, -43.21 kJ/mol and 4.69 × 10(5) M(-1), respectively. Thermal aggregation test showed fast aggregation of insulin in the presence of ZnO QDs. Therefore in biological application of ZnO QDs such as bioimaging, presence of such QDs in vicinity of insulin could unfold this protein.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2016.01.075 | DOI Listing |
Int J Nanomedicine
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Livestock Infectious Diseases, Ministry of Education, and Key Laboratory of Ruminant Infectious Disease Prevention and Control (East), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, People's Republic of China.
Background: Antibiotic resistance of many bacteria, including Methicillin-resistant (MRSA), has become a major threat to global health. Zinc Oxide Quantum dots (ZnO-QDs) show good antibacterial activity, but most of them are insoluble in water, limiting their application range, and there is a lack of research on drug resistance inducement.
Methods: The water-soluble zinc oxide quantum dots modified by APTES (ZnO@APTES QDs) were prepared by a microwave assisted synthesis.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune 411008, India.
The tunability of the energy bandgap in the near-infrared (NIR) range uniquely positions colloidal lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs) as a versatile material to enhance the performance of existing perovskite and silicon solar cells in tandem architectures. The desired narrow bandgap (NBG) PbS QDs exhibit polar (111) and nonpolar (100) terminal facets, making effective surface passivation through ligand engineering highly challenging. Despite recent breakthroughs in surface ligand engineering, NBG PbS QDs suffer from uncontrolled agglomeration in solid films, leading to increased energy disorder and trap formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Special Centre for Nanoscience, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India.
Excess consumption of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance that hinders the control and cure of microbial diseases. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor the antibiotic levels in the environment. In this proposed research work, an optical nano-sensor was devised that can sense the ultra-low concentration of antibiotics, in samples like tap water using fluorescent zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs) based nano-sensor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Department of Photonics and Nanoelectronics, and BK21 FOUR ERICA-ACE Center, Hanyang University, Ansan 15588, Korea.
Colloidal quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) have been significantly improved in terms of device performance and lifetime by employing zinc oxide (ZnO) as an electron transport layer (ETL). Although atomic layer deposition (ALD) allows fabrication of uniform, high-quality ZnO films with minimal defects, the high conductivity of ZnO has hindered its straightforward application as an ETL in QD-LEDs. Herein, we propose fabrication of Al-doped ZnMgO (Al:ZnMgO) ETLs for QD-LEDs through a supercycle ALD, with alternating depositions of various metal oxides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Hazard Mater
December 2024
Centre for Nanobiotechnology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address:
The current work seeks to understand how the interactions between ZnO QDs and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) may vary based on the types of EPS (loosely and tightly bound) and modes of eco-corona formation (In-situ or ex-situ). In-situ eco-corona refers to formation of an EPS layer on the QDs during the interactions with the algae whereas the ex-situ condition refers to forming the layer before the interactions. ZnO QDs were added at 0.
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