Highly Stable and Biocompatible CsPbBr<sub>3</sub> Nanocrystals Synthesized by Different Methods for Bioimaging Applications
Juanjuan Xue, Danyang Chen, Huamei Zhang, Li Guo, Pengcui Li, Dan Han, Xing Guo, Qianqian Duan, Shengbo Sang
Abstract
The low stability and high toxicity of CsPbBr 3 perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) greatly limit their application in the biological field. Here, six different CsPbBr 3 PNCs were prepared by ligand-assisted reprecipitation (LARP) and hot injection using oleic acid (OA), oleamine (OAm), (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) modification and SiO 2 coating, respectively. Different ligands, shells, and synthesis methods give CsPbBr 3 PNCs diverse optical properties, stability, and biocompatibility. Among them, OA-OAm-APTES-CsPbBr 3 @SiO 2 has the highest photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) (80.74%) and higher stability (fluorescence intensity remains 70% after 15 days in an atmospheric environment). OA-OAm-APTES-CsPbBr 3 @SiO 2 (30 μg/mL) was cocultured with liver cancer cells for 12 h, and the survival rate was 80%, indicating high biocompatibility. Under the observation of the microplate reader, bright green fluorescence appeared in the cytoplasm, indicating that OA-OAm-APTES-CsPbBr 3 @SiO 2 has great application potential in the field of bioimaging.