Microwave Synthesis Connects With the (Quantum) Dots

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Brightly glowing vials of highly luminescent water soluble quantum dots produced by the new NIST microwave process span a wavelength range from 500 to 600 nm. Credit: NIST
Brightly glowing vials of highly luminescent, water soluble quantum dots produced by the new NIST microwave process span a wavelength range from 500 to 600 nm. Credit: NIST

Materials researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed a simplified, low-cost process for producing high-quality, water-soluble “quantum dots” for biological research. By using a laboratory microwave reactor to promote the synthesis of the widely used nanomaterials, the recently published NIST process avoids a problematic step in the conventional approach to making quantum dots, resulting in brighter, more stable dots.


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