XPS studies of DNA-cation-interacted self-assembled HgTe quantum dots formed under electrodeposition and their resultant biomolecular recognition application

DNA interactions with multivalent cations, leading to wrapping around the cations and thermodynamically stable structure formation, followed by electrodeposition, have yielded a narrow size distributed single-crystalline HgTe-DNA quantum dot (QD) hybrid system. The mechanisms of the DNA interactions resulting in self-assembled HgTe QDs through phosphate-cation linkages and superstructure formation by nitrogen base interactions have been established by their respective binding energy shifts as evidenced from x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies. The photoluminescence peak position associated with HgTe QD single stranded DNA is red shifted in the presence of its conjugate and suggests the system as a potential optical probe for biomolecular recognition applications.