Publication date: 22nd July 2026
CC
Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) must be transferred from their native hydrophobic environment into water for various applications, particularly those involving bio-interfaces, while preserving their optical properties and colloidal stability.1 Several strategies have been developed over the years for such transfer, including polymeric coating, silica shell encapsulation, and thiol ligand exchanges.1 Among these approaches, ligand exchange with short-chain thiols is preferred when charge transfer is required for the target application.1 However, the transfer yield of these exchanges is generally suboptimal, and, more importantly, surface trap states are introduced that can negatively impact charge-transfer rates.2 In addition, the release of photo-oxidised ligands might occur, which may cause precipitation of the QDs and can deactivate biological co-catalysts.3
Herein, we propose a colloidal atomic layer deposition (c-ALD) strategy to enable high-yield (~100%) transfer of colloidal QDs in water while preserving their optical properties and colloidal stability. The c-ALD enables surface modification of QDs with a few metal-oxide (MOx) monolayers.4,5 The introduction of polar carboxylate ligands (PCL) during the c-ALD anchors them to the surface via a proton-exchange mechanism rather than hard-soft acid-base interactions, which generally occur on MOx surfaces. The c-ALD-enabled ligand binding generated QDs with photo- and colloidal stability for at least 10 days. As a proof of concept, we coupled TiOx-coated CdSe QDs with an [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase for photocatalytic H₂ production and observed a 50-fold enhanced activity compared to state-of-the-art thiol-capped QDs.
Altogether, the above results highlight the promise of c-ALD as a water-transfer method for photocatalytic applications of colloidal QDs in biohybrid systems and beyond.
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