Fabrication of CdTe nanoparticles-based superparticles for an improved detection of Cu2+ and Ag+

Detection of highly toxic and bioaccumulative heavy metal ions using fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) has stimulated recent research interests, but the separation of NPs after detection has failed to be achieved. In this paper, fluorescent CdTe NPs-based superparticles (SPs) were fabricated using oil droplets in microemulsion as templates. By controlling the experimental variables, SPs with different fluorescence and composition were obtained. In particular, CdTe/Fe3O4 binary SPs simultaneously exhibited strong fluorescence and magnetism, thus achieving the separation of SPs. These CdTe-based SPs showed an improved detection of Cu2+ and Ag+.