Influence of electric field on the properties of the polymer stabilized luminescent quantum dots in aqueous solutions

The application of external electric field for verification of quantum dots (QDs) stability in aqueous medium was proposed. Hydrophilic CdSe core-shell nanocrystals were synthesized and used with three polymer-based organic stabilizers, two of which contain PEG chains. An increasing of the stability under applied electric field (EF) was shown for stabilizer containing higher amount of PEG chains and terminal amino-groups: introduction of additional PEG chains allowed reducing degradation of luminescence intensity for about 60%. The changes of QDs solutions after EF treatment were examined by dynamic light scattering measurements, luminescence and absorbance spectroscopy, and conductivity measurements and explained by decreasing of quantum yield of the samples due to degradation of stabilizer coating. •Hydrophilic QDs with three types of stabilizer coatings were prepared and treated by electric field in water environment.•Permanent QDs luminescence quenching in aqueous medium under low electric field strength was observed.•Luminescence stability to EF treatment increases by stabilizer with higher PEG content.•Redox mechanism of luminescence quenching was proved via conductivity, DLS, and UV-visible absorbance measurements.