"Bottom-up" preparation of MoS₂ quantum dots for tumor imaging and their in vivo behavior study

"Bottom-up" method is a popular approach for the preparation of molybdenum disulfide quantum dots (MoS₂ QDs) benefitting from less time consumption and no high-powered sonication required. But the relatively low fluorescent quantum yield of the obtained MoS₂ QDs and the rare study about their in vivo behavior stimulate us to do more research in this area. In this paper, we proposed a "bottom-up" hydrothermal method to prepare MoS₂ QDs with a quantum yield (QY) of 34.55% by optimizing a series of reaction conditions. The successful fluorescence imaging of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo as well as the systematic in vivo behavior study such as biocompatibility, biodistribution and metabolism route provided the good basis for their wider biomedical applications.