One-pot synthesis of strongly luminesencing CdTe quantum dots and their conjugation with mouse antibody to alpha-fetoprotein

In this paper, strongly luminescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized in aqueous solution by a facile one-pot method. The CdTe QDs were synthesized in a weakly acidic or neutral buffer solution composed of sodium borate (Na2B4O7) and sodium citrate (C6H5Na3O7). The pH of buffer solution and the ratio of the precursors were systematically optimized; the high-quality CdTe QDs with progressively increasing fluorescence during 60 days storage were obtained. As-prepared QDs can be conjugated with a mouse antibody alpha-fetoprotein via the reaction mediated by N-hydroxysuccinimide and 1-ethyl-3(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride. The conjugate showed a red shift of 9 nm for the emission position.