Water-soluble quantum dots (QDs) are tiny, nanocrystals made up of semiconductor materials such as cadmium selenide or zinc sulfide. These nanocrystals are incredibly small, typically ranging between 2 and 10 nanometers in size. They are called quantum dots because they exhibit quantum confinement, which means that their electronic properties are determined by their size and shape.

One of the most significant advantages of water-soluble quantum dots is that they can easily be dispersed in water, making them biocompatible and safe for use in biological systems. This property has led to their use in biomedical imaging, where they can be used to label cells or tissues for imaging purposes.

Biomedical Applications of Water-soluble Quantum Dots： 

Water-soluble quantum dots (QDs) have gained attention in recent years due to their potential applications in the field of biomedicine. They are widely used in biomedical imaging, drug delivery, and disease diagnosis.

--Biomedical imaging: water-soluble quantum dots have several advantages over traditional imaging agents such as organic dyes and fluorescent proteins. Quantum dots have a high quantum yield, which means that they emit a brighter and more stable signal than organic dyes. They also have a narrow emission spectrum, which allows for the simultaneous detection of multiple targets in a single sample.

--Drug delivery: The unique electronic properties of quantum dots make them suitable for use in drug delivery, as they can be used to control the release of drugs in a targeted manner.

--Disease diagnosis: water-soluble quantum dots can be used to detect specific biomarkers associated with various diseases, such as cancer. Quantum dots can be functionalized with specific antibodies or proteins that bind to these biomarkers, allowing for their detection in a sample.

Production of Water-soluble Quantum Dots： 

The production of water-soluble quantum dots involves several steps: synthesis, surface modification, and characterization.

1. Synthesis: synthesis involves the creation of nanocrystals using semiconductor materials such as cadmium selenide or zinc sulfide. The size and shape of the nanocrystals are determined by the reaction conditions, such as temperature, pH, and the concentration of the reactants.

2. Surface modification: surface modification involves the addition of surface ligands, which are molecules that bind to the surface of the nanocrystals and make them water-soluble. The choice of ligands depends on the intended application of the quantum dots. For example, ligands such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) are commonly used to increase the biocompatibility of quantum dots.

3. Characterized: characterization techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and UV-Vis spectroscopy are commonly used to characterize the quantum dots.

Product Description： 

Water-soluble quantum dots have many advantages. Inorganic microcrystals can withstand multiple excitations and light emission, while organic molecules will decompose. Therefore, the long-lasting stability allows researchers to observe cells and tissues for a longer time, and make interface modifications and connections without difficulty.

Hydrophilic quantum dots (including different sizes) prepared by Alpha Lifetech Inc. can have chemically active groups on their surfaces, such as carboxyl groups and amino groups, which can be used for subsequent coupling and labeling of antibodies, proteins, nucleic acids, aptamers and polypeptides, and for biomedical fluorescence imaging and detection research. In addition, our water-soluble quantum Dots have uniform size, high quantum yield, and good thermal stability.

Quality Advantage： 

1. Monodisperse without agglomeration and aggregation

2. Comprehensive characterization: TEM, UV-Vis, and DLS

3. High fluorescence intensity, good stability and a long life

4. The surface of the band may contain chemical groups

Applications： 

1. Imaging

2. Biosensors

3. Catalysis