Abstract
We have discovered that quercetin, once coated on the CdSe and CdSe-CdS quantum dots (QDs), becoming highly water soluble. In the present work, we have successfully synthesized CdSe/CdS/N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine(NAC)/Quercetin nano-composites in the aqueous solution. The products were characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, fluorescence spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tests indicated that our nano-composite products are highly stable with homogeneous particle size and great monodispersity. Quercetin coated nano-composite CdSe/CdS/NAC/Quercetin showed different fluorescence behavior from that of CdSe/CdS/NAC. Most amazingly, the synthesized CdSe/CdS/NAC/Quercetin nano-composite exhibits strong antibacterial activity. The combination of the strong fluorescence and its antibacterial activity makes the quercetin modified quantum dots as a potential candidate for cancer targeted therapy and other cancer treatments.