Gram-Scale Synthesis of Hydrophilic PEI-Coated AgInS2 Quantum Dots and Its Application in Hydrogen Peroxide/Glucose Detection and Cell Imaging

Assisted with polyethylenimine, 4.0 L of water-soluble AgInS2 quantum dots (AIS QDs) were successfully synthesized in an electric pressure cooker. As-prepared QDs exhibit yellow emission with a photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield up to 32%. The QDs also show excellent water/buffer stability. The highly luminescent AIS QDs are used to explore their dual functional behavior: detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)/glucose and cell imaging. The amino-functionalized AIS QDs show high sensitivity and specificity for H2O2 and glucose with detection limits of 0.42 and 0.90 mu M, respectively. A linear correlation was established between PL intensity and concentration of H2O2 in the ranges of 0.5-10 mu M and 10-300 mu M, while the linear ranges were 1-10 mu M and 10-1000 mu M for detection of glucose. The MS QDs reveal negligible cytotoxicity on HeLa cells. Furthermore, the luminescence of AIS QDs gives the function of optical imaging.