Investigating the Photostability of Quantum Dots at the Single‐Molecule Level |
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| Authors: | Dr Wenfeng Zhao Suli Dong Lichun Sun Prof Qi Wang Prof Hongwei Gai |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Green Synthetic Chemistry for Functional Materials, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (P.R. China), Fax: (+86)?516‐83536972;2. Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116027 (P.R. China) |
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| Abstract: | Quantum dots (QDs) have shown great potential to provide spatial, temporal, and structural information for biological systems. However, blinking, photobleaching, and spectral blueshift are adverse effects on their practical applications in biomedical research. An investigation of the effects of six reducing agents including cysteine (Cys), 1,4‐dithiothreitol (DTT), ethyl gallate (EG), L ‐glutathione (GSH), mercaptoacetic acid (MAA), and thiourea (TU) on the photostability of single QDs was studied. Our experiments demonstrate that both DTT and EG effectively inhibit blinking, photobleaching, and spectral blueshift. GSH molecules block blinking and photobleaching of QDs. The other reagents, Cys, MAA, and TU, only have the ability to counteract blinking. Possible explanations are given on the basis of research evidence. The results suggest possibilities for significant improvements in QDs for biological applications by adjusting the environmental conditions. |
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| Keywords: | blinking photobleaching quantum dots single‐molecule studies spectral blueshift |
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