Synthesis of ZnS:Ag,Co water-soluble blue afterglow nanoparticles and application in photodynamic activation

Lun Ma, Xiaoju Zou, Marius Hossu, Wei Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Silver and cobalt co-doped ZnS (ZnS:Ag,Co) water-soluble afterglow nanoparticles were synthesized using a wet chemistry method followed by aging at room temperature. The nanoparticles had a cubic zinc blende structure with average sizes of approximately 4 nm and emitted a blue fluorescence emission centered at 441 nm due to radiative transitions from surface defects to Ag+ luminescent centers. Intense afterglow emission peaking at 475 nm from the obtained nanoparticles was observed and was red-shifted compared to the fluorescence emission peak. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed a large increase of O/S ratio, indicating a surface oxidation process during aging. The S vacancies produced accordingly may contribute to form more electron traps and enhance afterglow. The ZnS:Ag,Co afterglow nanoparticles have a very low dark-toxicity and are applied as a light source for photodynamic therapy activation by conjugating with protoporphyrin together. Our preliminary study has shown that the ZnS:Ag,Co afterglow nanoparticles can significantly reduce the x-ray dosage used in activation and thus may be a very promising candidate for future x-ray excited photodynamic therapy in deep cancer treatment.

Original languageEnglish
Article number315602
JournalNanotechnology
Volume27
Issue number31
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Jun 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • afterglow nanoparticles
  • cancer
  • fluorescence
  • photodynamic therapy
  • photosensitizer

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