General and Facile Surface Functionalization of Hydrophobic Nanocrystals with Poly(amino acid) for Cell Luminescence Imaging

Hydrophobic nanocrystals with various shape, size, and chemical composition were successfully functionalized by poly(amino acid) with one particle per micelle without aggregation or precipitation via a facile, general, and low-cost strategy. Via simply tuning the pH value, multifunctional nanocomposites consisting of different nanocrystals were also fabricated. Due to the poly(amino acid) coating, these nanocrystals are highly water-stable, biocompatible, and bioconjugatable with chemical and biological moieties. Meanwhile, their shape, size, optical/magnetic properties are well retained, which is highly desirable for bioapplications. This developed strategy presents a novel opportunity to apply hydrophobic nanocrystals to various biomedical fields.