Nanocomposite particles containing semiconductor and magnetic nanocrystals: fabrication and characterization

In this paper several approaches to fabricate semiconductor magnetic nanocomposite are reported. Several thiol- and amino- silane cross linked molecules were used to couple and embed CdSe and Fe3O4 nanoparticles into silica particles. The resulting nanocomposites were characterized by optical spectroscopies, transmission electron microscopy, electron paramagnetic spectroscopy and fluorescence optical microscopy. The new developed nanocomposite particles posses the advantage of being both magnetic and luminescent. The chemical functionality rich surface of these new nanoparticles could enable their application in bioassays, cell separation and drug delivery.