Zinc oxide (ZnO) is called II-VI semiconductor because Zn and O are classified into groups two and six in the periodic table, respectively. ZnO is characterized by a direct wide band gap (3.3 eV) in the near-UV spectrum with high exciton binding energy of (60 meV) at room temperature. It is an important functional material with the anisotropic crystal structure, semiconductor properties, luminescence properties, photoconductivity, antibacterial activity, high reflectivity in the visible and strong ultraviolet absorption, catalytic activity, and amphoteric chemical properties. The various physical and chemical properties of ZnO allow it to have a wide range of applications in various industries. ZnO and its nano-compounds have their relevance and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are among the most promising metallic nanomaterials. The rich variety of forms of ZnO nanostructures, such as quantum dots, wires, rods, tubes, spheres, belts, and flowers, lead to their widespread use and variety of properties. ZnO NPs have excellent ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing properties and transparency for visible light, making them excellent sunscreen agents. Other properties of ZnO NPs, such as their antibacterial, anticancer activities, and biocompatibility make them promising for many potential applications in biomedical fields. Furthermore, the inherent anticancer and antimicrobial activities of ZnO NPs render them superior to other drug carriers, such as lipid and polymeric nanoparticles. ZnO NPs are comparatively inexpensive, biocompatible, and relatively less toxic compared with other metal oxide nanoparticles, which further supports their application potential.
Zinc Oxide Quantum Dot
Quantum dots (QDs) are nanocrystals of inorganic semiconductor with a diameter of 2-10 nm that composed of II-VI and III-V elements. They are characterized by broad excitation and narrow size-tunable emission spectra, high quantum yield, high photochemical stability, and size dependent emission wavelength tunability. By tuning nanometer precision during chemical synthesis, the size of QDs can be controlled, and their fluorescence emission may be tuned from the UV to the near-infrared spectra. QDs as highly luminous nanomaterials have extensive applications in various fields from optoelectronics to biological imaging. Similar to organic fluorescent dyes, the modified QDs can be linked with bio-recognition molecules such as proteins, peptides and nucleic acids, making them become promising and attractive fluorescent probes in biological and medical fields such as bioassay, cell imaging and clinic diagnosis. Surface chemistry modification is used to improve the photophysical properties for achieve nonblinking, and stable QDs. The surface organic ligand modification contributes to suppressing the energy transfer among QDs by isolating QDs from neighboring ones, thereby resulting in an enhancement in the luminance efficiency. Among QDs, ZnO QDs have higher biological significance because of relative non-toxicity. The biological and medical applications of ZnO QDs include gene therapy, drug delivery, optical imaging, allergen and antigen detection, cancer cell sensing, antibacterial agents, and DNA detection.
Superior Quality ZnO QD Products
Amerigo Scientific offers ZnO QDs with significantly better chemical and physical properties than their counterparts currently being produced by the most popular sol-gel method. Our defect-free ZnO QDs manufactured by a novel organometallic approach exhibit excellent physicochemical properties such as long-term stability, monodispersity, a relatively high quantum efficiency, record-long luminescence lifetimes and EPR silence under standard conditions.
Surface modified ZnO QDs have good fluorescence property, high quantum yield and chemical stability in aqueous solutions, which opens up new avenues in the field of biology. The tightly coordinated and impermeable organic shells stabilize the surface, making ZnO QDs resistant to both chemical and biological environments.
- True, non-toxic, bio-safe
- Luminescence lifetime up to microseconds
- Tunable color emission (480 - 570 nm)
- High quantum yield and brightness
- Size tunable (2 - 10 nm)
- UV absorption up to 400 nm (depending on product version)
- Long term stability
- Not aggregating into clusters
- Different shapes
- Scalability
- Hydrophilic or hydrophobic (depending on product version)
- Possibility of attaching custom chemical groups for further coupling (click chemistry)
Zinc Peroxide Nanoparticles
Zinc peroxide (ZnO2) is a wide-band gap semiconductor that has many applications across a variety of industries, such as rubber, plastics, water treatment, cosmetics, and pharmacy. ZnO2 can be used as an oxidant for explosives and pyrotechnic mixtures, a precursor to ZnO, a photocatalyst, and a luminophore. Materials in the nanometer-size form often exhibit properties distinct from those of their bulk counterparts. ZnO2 nanoparticles (ZnO2 NPs) are metal oxide nanomaterials with antibacterial, anti-elastase, anti-keratinase, and anti-inflammatory properties, which have potential biomedical applications and may serve as an alternative to ZnO NPs. The size and the high surface-to-volume ratio of nanomaterials make their bactericidal effects beyond that caused solely by the release of metal ions.
Superior Quality ZnO2 NP Products
Amerigo Scientific offers a broad range of products based on high-quality ZnO2 NPs with an average diameter below 5 nm and rationally designed and well-specified characteristics. Our products have superior nanostructures, and their small size and well-defined structure of nanoparticles enable them excellent performance and high stability in many potential applications.
Our ZnO2 NPs manufactured by a novel organometallic approach possess unique properties:
- Heavy-metal free composition
- High purity (electronic purity on request)
- Possibility of custom functionalization
- Monodispersed nanoparticles with typical average size between 1-5 nm
- Hydrophilic or hydrophobic
- Long term stability (100% ZnO2 content)
- High specific surface area
- Scalability
Biomedical Applications
Amerigo Scientific offers ZnO QDs and ZnO2 NPs with consistency and stability in a wide range of conditions. This is particularly important in biological applications to ensure the stability of nanoparticles and to avoid potential toxicity caused by unintentional leaching of Zn ions into the biological medium. The biocompatibility of our ZnO QDs to human cell lines were analyzed, which indicated the cytotoxicity of our ZnO QDs is much lower than that of the typical ZnO nanomaterials currently available. We offer stable ZnO2 NPs with potent anti-bacterial activity. According to the ISO22196:2011 and ISO 22196/JIS Z 2801 standards, ZnO2 NPs could kill more than 99.99% E. Coli, S. Aureus and P. aeruginosa.
Potential applications:
- UV filters in sun creams and nail varnish
- Drug carriers
- Anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agents
- Fluorescent tags for in vitro and in vivo imaging
- Anti-inflammatory agents
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