Water-Soluble Photoluminescent Silicon Quantum Dots

Strong photoluminescence in the blue region of the visible spectrum was observed for a dispersion of allylamine‐capped silicon quantum dots in water. Their ease of synthesis and optical properties make them excellent candidates for biomedical applications, as demonstrated by their incorporation inside the cytosol of HeLa cells (see microscopy image, the inset shows the fluorescence from the silicon quantum dots on excitation with UV light).