Publication date: 27th June 2014
We report on the precision synthesis of CdSe/CdS/ZnS core-shell-shell nanocrystals using a preparative flow reactor. Experimental design is used to determine the crucial parameters and their influence on particle growth and size distribution.
In the second part of the talk, we will present applications of nanocrystals. In particular, we will report on the development of quantum dot quantum rod particles with fluorescence quantum efficiencies close to unity and applications in lighting and display technology. For biomedical applications we will present a biocompatible encapsulation technique based on amphiphilic poly(isoprene-block-ethylene oxide) (PI-b-PEO) diblock copolymers. We varied block lengths, structure and functional terminal end groups and investigated the effect on unspecific uptake. Fluorescence quenching experiments with encapsulated quantum dots show that best behavior in respect to unspecific cellular uptake is realized in those systems, in which the polymer shell yielded best protection against quenching molecules from the surrounding medium. Combination of micelle encapsulation with block copolymers and seeded emulsion polymerization finally leads to biolables for which unspecific uptake could be almost completely suppressed even under in-vivo conditions. We present various techniques for bio-conjugation with recognition molecules and show examples for specific cell and tissue targeting. In-vitro and in-vivo fluorescence and MRI data will be discussed.