Gamma-radiation synthesis and properties of superparamagnetic CS-ZnSe:Mn nanocrystals for biological labeling

Chitosan coated ZnSe:Mn (CS-ZnSe:Mn) nanocrystals were successfully synthesized in aqueous system through a gamma-radiation route at room temperature under ambient pressure. The structure and properties of nanocrystals were investigated with transmission electron microscope (TEM), fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectrometer, photoluminescence emission (PL) spectra, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersion spectrum (EDS). Results showed that the diameter of these nanocrystals was about 4 nm with narrow size distribution. With the increase of doped Mn2+ concentration, strong emission peak at 610 nm was observed besides the weak emission peak at 425 nm since the non-radiative transition of 4T1(4G)-6A1(6S) level, resulting the transfer of fluorescence color from blue to orange. Moreover, analysis of SQUID magnetometer indicated that the nanocrystals were superparamagnetic with a saturation magnetization of 1.7 emu/g and a Curie-Weiss temperature of 14-15 K. Hep G2 cells were incubated in solution of nanocrystals and results showed that the synthesized nanocrystals could stain cytoplasm but could not enter into nucleus.