Encapsulation of CdTe quantum dots in polyvinylpyrrolidone nanoparticle for live cell imaging

Highly luminescent and water-soluble CdTe quantum dots encapsulated in polyvinylpyrrolidone nanoparticles (QDs/PNs) have been synthesised by one-pot aqueous route. Fluorescence of the as-prepared QDs/PNs was tunable from 539 to 606 nm and photoluminescent quantum yield could reach up to 47%. High quality of QDs/PNs was also observed by narrow full-width at half-maximum as small as 36 nm in the fluorescence spectra. Using fluorescence microscopy, we demonstrated uptake of QDs/PNs by 293 T human renal epithelial cells. Our results suggest that such nanoparticles are potentially powerful tools for fluorescent gene delivery reagent.