Highly Stable Biotemplated InP/ZnSe/ZnS Quantum Dots for In Situ Bacterial Monitoring

Despite their unique optical and electrical characteristics, traditional semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) made of heavy metals or carbon are not ideally suited for biomedical applications. Cytotoxicity and environmental concerns are key limiting factors affecting the adoption of QDs from laboratory research to real-world medical applications. Recently, advanced InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs have emerged as alternatives to traditional QDs due to their low toxicity and optical properties; however, bioconjugation has remained a challenge due to surface chemistry limitations that can lead to instability in aqueous environments. Here, we report water-soluble, biotemplated InP/ZnSe/ZnS-aptamer quantum dots (QDAPTs) with long-term stability and high selectivity for targeting bacterial membrane proteins. QDAPTs show fast binding reaction kinetics (less than 5 min), high brightness, and high levels of stability (3 months) after biotemplating in aqueous solvents. We use these materials to demonstrate the detection of bacterial membrane proteins on common surfaces using a hand-held imaging device, which attests to the potential of this system for biomedical applications.