Synthesis of Water-Soluble Silver Selenide Quantum Dots Luminescing within the Transparency Window of Biological Tissues

Abstract

Water-soluble aggregation-resistance nanocomposites based on silver selenide quantum dots with an average particle size of 11.4–12.7 nm and the natural polysaccharide galactomannan were synthesized for the first time using a simple environmentally benign method for the generation of highly reactive selenide ions acting as selenating agent. The obtained nanocomposites showed luminescence in the transparency range of biological tissues (λ ~705 nm) and were characterized in detail by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and absorption and luminescence spectroscopy.