Stability and Mobility of CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots in Soils: Effects of Organic Ligands, pH and Ionic Strength

Quantum dots (QDs) are the key enablers in the domain of nanoscience and have found many applications due to their physico-chemical and optical properties. For example, they are used in solar cells, lighting technologies, and biomedical imaging. Their presence in the environment following their application and life-cycle is inevitable. Therefore, it is critical to understand their behavior in the soil water system to assess the risks they may pose to natural systems and to public health. Assessing the factors that impact the stability and mobility of QDs in the soil water system is important. Natural organic ligands occur in subsurface environments and alter chemical processes in soils through complex reactions with metal ions in solution and ligand exchange reactions on soil surfaces. Consequently, the presence of ligands may alter the surface properties of QDs and impact their stability and mobility in saturated porous media. In this study, characteristics and stability of CdSe/ZnS QDs in water solutions are tested in batch experiments. The impacts of organic ligands (acetate, oxalate, and citrate) on the stability of QDs under various pH (5, 7 and 9) and ionic strength (0.05 and 0.1 M) conditions were investigated. The stability and aggregation kinetics of QDs were examined using UV-vis and DLS methods. Selected parameters from batch experiments were then used as study conditions to perform column transport experiments to generate breakthrough curves and retention profiles to assess the fate and transport of QDs in saturated porous media, which is the first phase in simulating their behavior in the subsurface.