Facile synthesis and application of highly luminescent CdTe quantum

An electrogenerated precursor has been developed for green synthesis of highly luminescent aqueous CdTe quantum dots (QDs) with unique quantum yield and strong electrogenerated luminescence, which can access cellular targets via specific binding and have potential application as biolabels in highly sensitive biosensing and cell imaging. CdTe quantum dots (QDs) are currently attracting enthusiastic interest due to their unique size-dependent optical and electrical properties for potential application in optoelectronics and biolabeling. However, the low quantum yield (QY) and difficult synthesis of aqueous CdTe QDs are hindering their application in biological imaging1a and detection.1b Up to now three types of tellurium sources, Te powders,2,3 Al2Te3 lumps 4 and TeO