One‐Pot Aqueous Synthesis of Highly Biocompatible Near Infrared CuInS2 Quantum Dots for Target Cell Imaging

In this study, we report a novel and facile autoclave strategy for synthesis of near-infrared (NIR) CuInS2 QDs by employing glutathione (GSH) as capping ligand and stabilizer in aqueous media under 100°C. Various experimental parameters including the ratio of precursors, reaction time, reaction temperature, pH effect and stability have been systematically studied. The QDs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The as-synthesized NIR QDs exhibited low cytotoxicity and maintained excellent cell viability even up to 100 µg/mL. After bioconjugation with Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide, the obtained CuInS2-RGD QDs have demonstrated high targeting ability with good fluorescence cell imaging performance.