Synthesis of Fe3O4-ZnS/AgInS2 composite nanoparticles using a hydrophobic interaction

Magnetic nanoparticles and fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) can make many effective applications in biomedical system. Here, we demonstrated one way of synthetic method and its surface modification to use for biomedical applications. Fe3O4 nanoparticles are well known as magnetic materials and its magnetic property can be used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cell detection. QDs as a fluorescent probes, make cell labeling and in vivo imaging possible. ZnS/AgInS2 QDs have a lower toxicity than other QDs (CdSe, CdTe, CdS). We combined two nanoparticles by hydrophobic interaction in their ligands. The prepared fluorescent magnetic composite particles were modified with CTAB-TEOS. The surface modified composite has a low cytotoxicity and these biocompatible particles will provide many possibilities in biomedical system.