RT Journal Article
T1 Ion-Mediated Photoluminescence Enhancement in CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Its Use as Heavy Metal Ion Sensor
A1 Alayeto, Iodia
A1 Gutiérrez González, Paula
A1 Dongmei, Qiu
A1 Pallarés Vilar, Ana
A1 Hamraoui, Khouloud
A1 Civera Tejuca, María Concepción
A1 Cascales Sandoval, Juan Pedro
A1 Melle Hernández, Sonia
A1 Gómez Calderón, Óscar
A1 Rubio Retama, Benito Jorge
A1 Gonzalo Villaverde, 
A1 Villaverde Cantizano, Gonzalo
AB The absence of heavy metal ions and excellent photoluminescent (PL) properties make CuInS2 quantum dots (QDs) ideal candidates for a wide range of PL applications. One of these applications stems from their inherent capacity to  respond to the presence of Cd2+ ions, which significantly enhances their photoluminescence emission. This property enables the creation of Cd2+ sensors based on the detection of variations in the PL emission or PL lifetime. Aiming to understand the enhancement effect that the presence of Cd2+ exerts on these CuInS2 QDs, we synthesized and characterized a set of CuInS2 QDs covered with varying ZnS shell thicknesses, which were used as Cd2+ probes. The analysis of PL features demonstrated that the presence of Cd2+ ions blocks surface traps on the CuInS2 QDs, minimizing nonradiative decay pathways and therefore increasing both the PL lifetimesand the PL emission of the QDs. In contrast, the incorporation of a ZnS shell passivates the surface of the QDs, reduces the number of accessible surface traps, and diminishes the sensitivity toward the Cd2+ ions. This knowledge has been used to create a sensor that can be used to selectively detect the presence of Cd2+ in the micromolar range, which can even be seen with the naked eye, and exhibits a linear range from 0.05 to 10 μM
PB ACS Publications
YR 2025
FD 2025-07
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/122787
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/122787
LA eng
NO Alayeto, Idoia, et al. «Ion-Mediated Photoluminescence Enhancement in CuInS2 Quantum Dots and Its Use as Heavy Metal Ion Sensor». ACS Applied Nano Materials, julio de 2025, p. acsanm.5c02927. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.5c02927.
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO Comunidad de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 18 dic 2025