Emission of CdSe/ZnS and CdSeTe/ZnS quantum dots conjugated to IgG antibodies

Commercially available CdSe/ZnS QDs with emission at 605 nm (2.04 eV) and 655 nm (1.90 eV), as well as CdSeTe/ZnS QDs with emission at 705 nm (1.78 eV), have been studied by photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering methods in nonconjugated states and after the conjugation to immunoglobulin G (rabbit IgG) antibodies. PL spectra of nonconjugated QDs are characterized by one Gaussian shape PL band related to exciton emission in CdSe or CdSeTe cores. In PL spectra of bioconjugated QDs the PL bands shift into the high energy and become asymmetric. The PL spectrum transformation in bioconjugated QDs has been assigned to the QD interaction with the antibody electric charges (dipoles). Raman scattering spectra have been studied with the aim to reveal the CdSeTe core compositions, as well as to analyze the elastic strains in bioconjugated QDs. Optical band gaps in CdSe and CdSeTe cores of nonconjugated QDs is calculated numerically versus core radius using the effective mass approximation model with the aim to estimate the average core sizes in studied QD ensembles. It is shown that the PL energy shift increases versus QD core radius. The mechanism of PL energy shift has been discussed. The PL energy shift in bioconjugated QDs is promising for the study of bioconjugation with specific antibodies and can be a powerful technique in biology and medicine.