Deactivation of Q-cadmium sulfide photoluminescence through polynucleotide surface binding

The intrinsic interaction between cadmium hydroxide-layered Q-CdS clusters and polynucleotides has been examined via photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. For semiconductor clusters of 40-A average diameter and a narrow luminescence maximum near 480 nm, quenching of this emission can be accomplished by the addition of polynucleotides such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from E. coli or polyadenylic acid (poly[A])