Semiconductor Quantum Dots and Energy Transfer for Optical Sensing and Bioanalysis: Principles

<!-- START_ABSTRACT --> <p> Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are very promising materials for optical sensing and bioanalysis. This chapter serves as a primer for Chap. 11, which focuses on bioanalysis, by describing QD materials and their unique and highly advantageous properties with respect to photoluminescence spectroscopy, imaging, and energy transfer. These properties include, among others, broad and strong light absorption with spectrally narrow and tunable luminescence—a combination ideal for optical multiplexing. The interfacial chemistry and bioconjugation of QDs are then described, as these topics are critical considerations for designing sensors and bioanalysis methods. Energy transfer mechanisms including Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), bioluminescence and chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET and CRET), nanosurface energy transfer (NSET), and charge transfer are reviewed with discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of QDs in the role of donor or acceptor. The importance and utility of these concepts are then illustrated in the context of specific examples of optical sensing and ­bioanalysis in the next chapter. </p> <!-- END_ABSTRACT --> <!-- START_TEMPLATE --> <ul> <li> Source: </li> <li> Tags: </li> </ul> <!-- END_TEMPLATE -->