Fabrication of Highly Fluorescent Quantum Dots for

Biomedical Applications

A Fast Track Proposal for Young Scientist

Submitted by

Dr. Sahid Hussain

to
The Department of Science and Technology
Technology Bhavan, New Mehrauli Road
New Delhi-110016, INDIA

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

FAST TRACK PROPOSALS FOR YOUNG SCIENTISTS
1. Broad subject area: Chemical Sciences
2. Specialization : Nanotechnology
3. Title of the proposed project: Fabrication of Highly Fluorescent Quantum Dots for
Biomedical Applications
4. Name and address of the investigator:
Dr. Sahid Hussain
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
Indian Institute of Technology Patna
Patna 800013, Bihar (INDIA)
Telephone (O): +91-612-2552022; Mobile: 91-9471830688; Fax: +91-612-2277383
E-mail: sahid@iitp.ac.in and sahid.iitg@gmail.com

5. Details of the proposed project to be undertaken:

Origin of proposal
Quantum Dots (QDs), also known as nanocrystals (NCs), are crystals composed of

periodic groups of II-VI, III-V, or IV-VI materials. QDs are unique class of semiconductor
(or non-traditional semiconductors) because they are so small, ranging from 2-10 nanometers
(10-50 atoms) in diameter. At these small sizes materials behave differently, giving QDs
unprecedented tunability and enabling never before seen applications to science and
technology. The fundamental reasons were first explored by Steigerwald and Brus that
semiconductor NCs are strongly dimension dependent.1 When at least one of the physical
dimensions of NCs is smaller than the diameter of the bulk exciton of the given material the
exciton becomes quantum-confined along that dimension. The confinement energy, as a
significant part of the total energy of the electrons and holes, increases as the dimension
decreases. Since most chemical properties are largely determined by energy levels, these
properties become size-dependent. A dot-shaped semiconductor NC (quantum dot) is three1. L. E. Brus, J Chem. Phys. 1983, 79, 5566.

dimensionally confined if the size of the NC is smaller than the diameter of the bulk exciton.
Dots are the most common shape for NCs and have been widely studied in the past.
QDs addressing biomedical application have become an important subject of
investigation worldwide. Over past few decades, significant advances have been made
towards the synthesis of colloidal QDs, nanorods and nanowires. Owing to their novel optical
properties, semiconductor NCs are of great interest to many fields such as field-effect
transistors,2 waveguides,3 nanolasers,4 photovoltaics,5 electronics,6 and biolabels.7 Specific
applications, for example, biolabels, require these NCs to be not only highly luminescent but
also water-soluble. Recently, inorganic QDs composed of group II and VI metals have
emerged as potential optical imaging tools in the biomedical field. A widespread use of QDs
instead of organic fluorophores is for the reason that organic dyes are generally vulnerable to
the physiological environment and are quickly photobleached under normal imaging
conditions. They are also not good for multicolor imaging because of two inherent properties:
a) organic dyes have relatively broad emission spectra and hence result in the signal overlap
from different dyes; and b) one organic dye can only be suitably excited by the lights within
a certain narrow wavelength range and it thus needs nearly the same numbers of excitation
light sources as the dyes used.
On the other hand, QDs are robust inorganic fluorophores that exhibit size-dependent
fluorescence emission spectra that span the visible-NIR spectrum. Their broad emission
spectra allow simultaneous excitation of different particle sizes at a single wavelength with
emission at multiple wavelengths. In addition, QDs provide the benefit of a good quantum
yield and high photochemical stability. QD fluorophores enable multiplex assays requiring a
single excitation source far from the QD emission peaks. Since the introduction of
compatible QDs in 1998,7a,b the potential of QDs to address multiplexing was quickly
realized and remarked;8 however, demonstrations of this ability have only recently started to
appear.
J. Goldberger, A. I. Hochbaum, R. Fan, P. D. Yang, Nano Lett. 2006, 6, 973.
M. Law, D. J. Sirbuly, J. C. Johnson, J. Goldberger, R. J. Saykally, P. D. Yang, Science 2004, 305, 1269.
J. C. Johnson, H. J. Choi, K. P. Knutsen, R. D. Schaller, P. D. Yang, R. J. Saykally, Nat. Mater. 2002, 1,
106.
5. I. Gur, N. A. Fromer, M. L. Geier, A. P. Alivisatos, Science 2005, 310, 462.
6. X. F. Duan, Y. Huang, Y. Cui, J. F. Wang, C. M. Lieber, Nature 2001, 409, 66.
7. a) M. Bruchez, Jr., M. Moronne, P. Gin, S. Weiss, A. P. Alivisatos, Science 1998, 281, 2013; b) W. C. W.
Chan, S. M. Nie, Science 1998, 281, 2016; c) I. L. Medintz, A. R. Clapp, H. Mattoussi, E. R. Goldman,
B. Fisher, J. M. Mauro, Nat. Mater. 2003, 2, 630; d) S. Kim et al. Nat. Biotech. 2004, 22, 93.
8. C. M. Niemeyer, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 4128.
2.
3.
4.

Biomedical applications require high-quality water-soluble quantum dots. Quantum dots

could be made directly in water but often have narrow available size ranges and wide size
distribution (leads to wide full width at half maximum (FWHM)).9 On the contrary, quantum
dots produced from high temperature organic solvent synthetic strategies are monodisperse
(leads to narrow FWHM) with very wide emission color ranging from ultraviolet to near
infrared (3002500 nm) by simply changing the size, composition and/or structure.10
However, these quantum dots synthesized in organic solvents are insoluble in water. QDs can
easily be solublized in water with some hydrophilic ligands such as dihydrolipoic acid.
Though this ligand is biocompatible, but undergoes decomposition with time and forms
aggregates. Hence, its application is limited. Hence a challenge is how to make the highquality water soluble quantum dots with active functional group at the surface for
bioconjugation.
In view of the increasing interest for water soluble QDs, the development of QDs with
tailored surface groups (for bioconjugation) still remains a challenge in academics and
industry.

Research work engaged in at present

During my Postdoctoral research (August 2007 to December 2008 in Prof. Sungjee Kim)

in the Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea, I worked on the synthesis
of QDs (CdSe, and InP) and rendered them water soluble with dihydrolipoic acid. This water
soluble QDs were finally used as fluorescent probe in cell imaging. Recently, I have joined
IIT Patna and looking for fund to start research work in this emerging interdisciplinary field.

9.

a) Y. Wang, Z. Tang, M. A. Correa-Duarte, I. Pastoriza-Santos, M. Giersig, N. A. Kotov, L. M. LizMarzan, J. Phys. Chem. B. 2004, 108,15461; b) J. Zhuang, X. Zhang, G. Wang, D. Li, W. Yang, T. Li, J.
Mater. Chem.2003, 13, 1853; c) R. Kho, C. L. Torres-Martinez, R. K. Mehra, J. Colloid Interface Sci.
2000, 227, 561; d) J. O. Winter, T. Y. Liu, B. A. Korgel, C. E. Schmidt, Adv. Mater. 2001, 13, 1673.
10. a) C. B. Murray, D. J. Norris, M. G. Bawendi, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 8706; b) Z. A. Peng, X. Peng,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 123, 183; c) W. W. Yu, Y. A. Wang, X. Peng, Chem. Mater. 2003, 15, 4300; d)
W. W. Yu, X. Peng, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2002, 41, 2368; e) D. Battaglia, X. Peng, Nano Lett. 2002, 2,
1027; f) R. E. Bailey, S. Nie, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 7100.

Objective of proposed project

Our objectives are:

(i) To develop new strategy for easy synthesis of QDs derived from II-VI, III-V and I-IIIVI semiconductor QDs at low temperature.
(ii) To develop a new strategy for coating a stable thick shell over QDs to make them
chemically stable.
(iii) To develop new surface ligands with different functional groups those endure well at
different pH (5-10) without aggregations.
(iv) To develop new strategy for ligand exchange so that Quantum Yield (QY) remains
unchanged or slightly changed.
(v) To screen the stability of water soluble QDs at physiological conditions as well as
effect of pH and salt.

Review of R&D in the proposed area (National & International Status, Importance,
Patents etc.)
The term quantum dots (QDs) was coined by Mark Reed and was first discovered by

Brus. The quantum confinement effect in the semiconductor NCs made them interesting
which leads to have different optical properties with size. Dots are the most common shape
for NCs and have been widely studied in the past, which is why, in most of the literature,
dimension-dependent properties are called size-dependent properties, and also why synthesis
of quantum dots is the most advanced. Inspection of patents and literature reveled that many
different methods have been explored for controlled synthesis of colloidal NCs.
Organometallic approaches in coordinating solvents, invented in the early 1990s by
Steigerwald et al.11 and developed to a practical level by Murray et al.,10a are regarded as
having been the first major breakthrough that yielded CdSe NCs of contemporary quality.
Very recently, alternative approaches using air-stable precursors, such as inorganic salts,
organic salts, oxides, and metals have been found to be possible,12 and even more recently,
non-coordinating solvents were also introduced.10d The mechanism of the growth of
monodisperse NCs plays a critical role in the development of synthetic chemistry.
11. M. L. Steigerwald, L. E. Brus, Acc. Chem. Res. 1990, 23, 183.
12. a) Z. A. Peng, X. Peng, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 183; b) L. Qu, Z. A. Peng, X. X. Peng, Nano Lett.
2001, 1, 333.

Owing to a lack of knowledge of crystallization, studies on formation of NCs are essential for
good progress in the synthesis of colloidal NCs. In fact, the first introduction of these
alternative approaches12 was a direct result of the study of the growth mechanism of CdSe
NCs using traditional organometallic approaches.13 Surface effects on the optical properties
of semiconductor NCs have been noted for a long time,14 and a few results on this issue were
reported recently.15
QDs are mostly synthesized in nonpolar organic solvents. If they are to be solubilized in
aqueous buffers, their hydrophobic surface ligands must be replaced by amphiphilic ones.
Different QDs solubilization strategies have been devised over the past few years including
(i) ligand exchange with simple thiol-containing molecules7b or more sophisticated ones such
as oligomericphosphines,16 dendrons17, and peptides;18 (ii) encapsulation by a layer of

Fig.1. Biomedical applications of quantum dots.

13. Z. A. Peng, X. Peng, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 183.
14. R. Rossetti, L. Brus, J. Phys. Chem. 1982, 86, 4470.
15. L. Qu, X. Peng, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 2049; b) D. V. Talapin, A. L. Rogach, E. V.
Shevchenko, A. Kornowski, M. Haase, H. Weller, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 5782.
16. S. Kim, M. G. Bawendi, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 14652.
17. W. Guo, J. J. Li, Y. A. Wang, X. G. Peng, Chem. Mater. 2003, 15, 3125.
18. F. Pinaud, D. King, H.-P. Moore, S. Weiss, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 6115.

amphiphilic diblock19 or triblock copolymers20 or in silica shells7a phospholipid micelles,21

polymer beads,22 polymer shells23 or amphiphilic polysaccharides;24 and (iii) combinations of
layers of different molecules conferring the required colloidal stability to QDs.25 Recent
developments include a promising water based synthesis method26 that yields particles that
emit from the visible to the NIR spectrum and are intrinsically water soluble, but the particles
have yet to be tested in biological environments. Unless used as a nonspecific fluorescent
stain, QDs require some sort of biological interfacing. For simple applications such as QD
tagging of a target molecule, a single recognition moiety can be grafted to the QD (e.g., DNA
oligonucleotide or aptamer, antibody, etc.) or, simpler yet, used as the QD solubilization
ligand.27 QD ligands containing either an amine or a carboxyl group, for instance, offer the
possibility of crosslinking molecules containing a thiol group28 or an N-hydroxysuccinimyl
ester moiety7a,18 by means of standard bioconjugation reactions. Another approach uses
electrostatic interactions between QDs and charged adapter molecules, or between QDs and
proteins modified incorporate charged domains.29
Over the last decades, advances have been made in the understanding the synthesis of
high quality QDs and its use as florescent probes in many field (Fig. 1). A voluminous
literature and review articles have been published from several groups. Prof. Alivisatos
(University of California, Berkeley), Prof. Bawendi (Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
USA), Prof. X. Peng (University of Arkansas, USA), Prof. Shuming Nie (Emory University,
USA), Prof. P. N. Prasad (The State University of New York at Buffalo, USA), Prof. Thomas
Nann (University of East Angila, UK), Prof. D. D. Sharma (IISc Bangalore, India), Prof. S.
K. Pal (SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, India) and many other groups
across the globe are actively engaged in development of biocompatible florescent QDs.
X. Y. Wu et al., Nature Biotechnol. 2003, 21, 41.
X. Gao, Y. Cui, R. M. Levenson, L. W. K. Chung, S. Nie, Nature Biotechnol. 2004, 22, 969.
B. Dubertret et al., Science 2002, 298, 1759.
X. Gao, W. C. W. Chan, S. Nie, J. Biomed. Opt. 2002, 7, 532.
T. Pellegrino et al., Nano Lett. 2004, 4, 703.
F. Osaki, T. Kanamori, S. Sando, T. Sera, Y. Aoyama, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 6520.
H. Mattoussi et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 12142.
a) A. L. Rogach et al., Phys. Status Solidi B, 2001, 224, 153; b) N. Gaponik et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2002,
106, 7177.
27. F. Patolsky et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 13918.
28. a) M. E. Akerman, W. C. W. Chan, P. Laakkonen, S. N. Bhatia, E. Ruoslahti, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
2002, 99, 12617; b) G. P. Mitchell, C. A. Mirkin, R. L. Letsinger, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 8122.
29. E. R. Goldman et al., Anal. Chem. 2002, 74, 841.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.

 Work plan (including detailed methodology and time schedule)

a) Methodology
The proposed work can be divided into three phases. The work plan can be
schematically illustrated as follows:
Phase I Readily availble
starting materials

Fluorescent
Biocompatible
Quantum Dots

Phase II

Phase III

Development of
New Methods for
Synthesis of QDs

Developmet of
Cationic, Anionic
and Zweterionic
Ligands

Stability Test at
Physiological
Conditions

Development of
Core/Shell QDs

Development of
New Ligand
Exchange Methods

Development of
Water Soluble
Core/Shell QDs

(i) In our strategy of synthesis, easily accessible starting materials will be used. As evident
from the literature preparation of well crystallized QDs is little difficult and suffers from poor
luminescence efficiency, reduced control of size distribution, less size tenability and poor
stability. It is very difficult to obtain a controllable nucleation burst because this brust
depends on various parameters such as polarity, surfactant and coordination property of
solvent. Depending on the type of reactants involved in QDs choice of solvent may be made.
In strong coordinating solvents, there may be unselective coordination to the reactant results
in either very slow and continuous nucleation or very fast reaction yielding in amorphous or
bulk compounds which on prolong heating for few days gives slower nucleation to NCs.
Whereas in non coordinating solvents the surfactant used in the synthesis such as carboxylate
and amine groups offer an in situ high selective coordination that led to the controlled
nucleation and growth. We beleive that a weak coordinatig solvent and judicious amount
and choice of surfactant not only offer polarity to the reaction matrix that control the reaction
but also provide surface stability to the QDs (Fig. 2). Apart from these, all the synthesis uses
solvents like trioctylphosphine oxide, trioctylphosphine, trioctyl amine, high fatty acid ester
and/or octadecene, neither of which are separable nor were any attempts made for
reuse/recycling these solvent to our knowledge. This results in burdening the environment
and high cost as well. We intend to use such solvents which may be seperable or reusable.
7

I, II, III-Precursor

+
VI-Precursor

Ligand, Solvent

QDs
Core

Low temperature

I = Cu, Ag
II = Cd, Zn
III = In, Ga
VI = S, Se, Te

Fig. 2. Proposed synthetic scheme of high quality core QDs.

(ii) The selenium and tellurium based QDs are relatively chemically unstable, fragile and
losses its fluorescent property with time. In order to provide them chemical stability
overcoating will be done with high band gap material than the core QDs. The overcoating
materials must have higher stability. Overcoating can only be possible if the crystal lattice
parameter matches or may have mismatch less than 10%. It is also possible to enhance PL
efficiency through the localization of charge carrier by growing a thick shell. The shell
provides chemical stability as well can enhance the PL efficiency. Nevertheless, the toxic
effects of Class A elements (Cd and Hg) and Class B elements (As and Se) are the main
concerns for their applicability in in vitro and in vivo imaging. To overcome their toxicity a
thick shell will be prepared over the core to check the leakage of toxic elements. One pot
core/shell synthetic strategy will be used for surface encapsulation (Fig. 3).

Shell
precursor

QDs
Core

QDs
Core/Shell

Fig. 3. Proposed synthetic scheme of high quality core/shell QDs.

(iii) The ligand at the surface of the QDs defines its solubility. Since the QDs produced will
be soluble in nonpolar organic solvent, hence they cannot be used for biomedical
applications. In order to make them useful, it needs to be soluble in aqueous medium.
Ligands with thiol group at one end and carboxyl group at the other end were used mostly for
the purpose. No doubt they act but it was often found that they agglomerates and sometimes
loses PL with time. Agglomeration may depend on various factors such as pH, salt effect,
electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding. It is also notable that the surface ligand must

have some functional groups which either can be used for conjugation or for electrostatic
interaction with some antibody, receptors or carrier proteins for smooth endocytosis and
targeted delivery. Keeping mind in those facts a few cationic, anionic, zwitterionic and neutal
ligands is being proposed. The synthesis for the ligands is under Scheme 1. Synthesis of
those ligands will be done from the commercially available lipoic acid.
Cationic Ligand
O
N
N
H

SH HS

OO

Zwitterionic Ligand

Neutral Ligand

NH

OH
O

LA(Lipoic acid)

NH
O

SH

H
N

O
O

SH

S
SH HS
O
H
N
SH HS

SH

N
H

Anionic Ligand

SH

O
S

Scheme 1. Proposed functionalized surface ligands

(iv) The surface chemistry of QDs is very complicated. Care must be taken during ligand
exchange. Usually PL efficiency decreases or gets to zero. The transfer of QDs from organic
layer to aqueous layer (bilayer method) is a promising method which will be tried out for the
ligand exchange (Fig. 4).

Ligand exchange
QDs
Core/Shell

QDs
Core/Shell

Fig. 4. Proposed synthetic scheme of high quality core/shell QDs.

(v) After the ligand exchange, purification will be a major task. The purification will be done
by centrifugation with MW cut filter. And then the hydrodynamic size and zeta potential of
the water soluble QDs will be measured. These two factors are crucial for the biomedical
applications.
Time schedule:
First 12 months
Development

13-18 months
of Development a

19-24 months

25-30 months 31-36 months

Synthesis of

Development Screening of

new strategies for new strategy

surface

easy syntheses of for coating a

with

II-VI and III-V and stable thick

functional

I-III-VI

shell over QDs

semiconductor QDs to make them

groups

ligands of

new stability of
for water soluble

different strategy

QDs at

ligand

and exchange so physiological

characterization

that Quantum conditions.

at low temperature chemically

Yield

(QY) (Salt effect,

and

of

QDs pH effect etc.)

characterization

its stable and its

charcterization

remains
unchanged or
slightly
changed.

In conclusion, the fellowship will contribute to a research effort to develop new route
for the synthesis of QDs from the readily available starting materials and render them water
soluble via ligand exchange. This water soluble QDs will be used for cell imaging. The
results obtained will be of interest to a broad spectrum of people starting from chemistry,
physics to nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology.
Future plans

Once we achieve our target plan we will turn our attention to use this water soluble
QDs for cell imaging and will further be conjugated with DNA oligonucleotide or aptamer,
antibody, receptors for target specific applications.
10

 Details of the research funding received in the past and/ongoing projects: NIL

6. Name and address of the institution where the proposal will be/likely to be executed:
Department of Chemistry
Indian Institute of Technology Patna
New Govt. polytechnic campus
Patliputra colony
Patna-800 013, Bihar, INDIA
7. Facilities provided/to be made available at the host institute:
IIT Patna will provide basic facilities such as required workspace to carryout
experimental (ventilated hood, work bench) and theoretical work (computer desk with online
access to databases). In addition, electricity, library as well as water supply facilities will also
be provided. The purchase of some modern and state of the art instrument such as UVVisible, Fluorescence and FTIR-spectrometer, are under process. For characterization of QDs
by powder-XRD, TEM and EDX will be carried out elsewhere.

8. Name(s) and address(es) of Indian expert(s) in the proposed area:

(a) Professor D. D. Sarma
Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit,
Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore 560012, India.
Fax: +91 80 2360 1310
E-mail: sarma@sscu.iisc.ernet.in
(b) Professor Arun Chattopadhyay
Dept. of Chemistry
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Guwahati-781 039
Fax +91-361-2582349
E-mail: arun@iitg.ernet.in
(c) Dr. Samir Kumar Pal
Department of Chemical, Biological & Macromolecular Sciences
S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
JD Block, Sector III, Salt Lake City
Fax +91-33-3353477
E-mail: skpal@bose.res.in
11

9. Details of financial requirements for three years (with justifications) and phasing for
each year:
1st Year
NA

2nd Year
NA

3rd Year
NA

Total
-----------

2
3.

Head
Fellowship @Rs.20,000/p.m.*
Manpower (JRF/SRF)**
Consumables

1,72,800a
2,50,000

1,72,800a
2,50,000

2,01,600b
2,00,000

5,47,200
7,00,000

4.

Travel (within India)

30,000

30,000

40,000

1,00,000

5.
6.

Contingency
Equipment (Generic Name
with minimum required
accessories, make & model
& Cost in Indian Rupees)

50,000

50,000

50,000

1,50,000

S. No
1

USB2000-FLG Miniature
Fiber Optic Spectrometer
with Computer and
accessories
(1 unit)

7.

3,50,000
-

Fridge (1 unit)

30,000

Temperature control oil

bath cum magnetic stirrer
(1 unit)

45,000

Magnetic Stirrer (1 unit)

15,000

UV lamp (1 unit)

30,000

Overhead Costs (@20% of

project cost)

1,94,560

1,00,560

98,320

4,70,000

3,93,440

Total 23,60,640
[Total = Rupees twenty three lakhs sixty thousands six hundred forty only]
* applicable to scientist having no regular employment and are not drawing any fellowship
during the project tenure
** applicable for researcher holding regular position.
a

considering 12000/month as fellowship + 20% HRA = 12000x12+144000 x 0.2 = 1,72,800

for 3rd year i.e SRF considering 14000/months+ 20%HRA=14000x12+16800x0.2 =

2,01,600

12

Details about the Proposed Equipment and Justification of the Cost:

USB2000-FLG Spectrometer:
Justification: The portable USB2000 FLG spectrometer will be used for monitoring the
reaction while synthesizing the fluorescent QDs. This spectrometer will have optical fiber
probe which can directly be put on the reaction flask to detect fluorescence. Since QDs
shows size dependent fluorescence. This instrument will be useful in order to monitor the
growth of QDs and with the desired size the reaction can be freezed. Handy nature of the
spectrometer will be better for frequent uses. The USB2000-FLG Spectrometer is
manufactured by Ocean Optics Worldwide Headquarters, Dunedin, Florida, USA, one of the
most technologically advanced products.
Refrigerators: This is very essential equipment for our proposed work. As some of the
chemicals have to store in low temperature therefore, it will be very important to have at least
one 300 Lit fridge in our lab. In addition there might be some product which is less stable at
room temperature but stable at low temperature, in that case it will be used. We will go for a
brand which consumes less energy and gives better service such as Whirlpool.
Some other minor equipment such as Temperature control oil bath cum magnetic stirrer,
Magnetic Stirrer and UV lamp is required for smoothly execute the proposed work.
10. Have you ever applied before under this Scheme or Women Scientist Scheme? If
yes, give details (Name of the scheme, Title, subject area, reference number, if any, year
and the decision).
NO
11. Any other information in support of the proposed project:
NIL
12. Statement from the Present Employer as per Annexure-I (In respect of person
holding regular position). Please see the enclosed Annexure I

13

Detailed Biodata
1. Name of the Applicant: Dr. Sahid Hussain
2. Mailing Address (Indicate Telephone, Fax, E-mail, etc.)
Dr. Sahid Hussain
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
Indian Institute of Technology Patna
New Govt. Polytechnic campus
Patliputra colony, Patna-800013, Bihar
E-mail: sahid@iitp.ac.in and sahid.iitg@gmail.com
Tel (O): +91-612-2552022; Mobile: +91-9471830688; Fax: +91-612-2277383
3. Date of Birth : 10/02/1978

Gender: Male

4. Educational Qualifications (Starting from Graduation onwards):

S.No. Degree

University

Year

Subjects

Percentage

B. Sc.

Dibrugarh University

1999

62.6

M. Sc.

Gauhati University

2002

3.

Ph. D.

Indian Institute of
Technology Guwahati

2008

Chemistry (Major),
Physics, Mathematics
Organic
Chemistry
Catalysis

66.3
8.0/10 CPI

5. A. Details of professional training and research experience, specifying period.

During PhD (August 2003 to August 2007), I worked on the development of newer
catalytic methodologies for C-C, C-N, C-S bond formations reaction, oxidation, bromination
and nitration. I also developed some new catalysts based on Boron, Vanadium, Chromium,
Cobalt and solid acid catalyst for various organic transformations. These experiences helped
me in gathering knowledge in the above field and making me possible to learn most
important techniques required for a chemist, such as knowledge of spectroscopy, structure
determination or characterization and purification techniques as well as handling of different
instruments such as IR, UV, Polarimeter, NMR, Fluorescence, Single crystal XRD etc. My
post doctoral research (August 2007 to December 2008) was on the synthesis of quantum
dots (QDs) and its application to cell imaging. I learnt the technique of the synthesis and
characterization of QDs. Apart from these; I learnt cell culture, cell imaging and cytotoxicity

14

evaluation. These experiences boost me in taking up challenges in the field of colloidal

synthesis of QDs and its surface modifications.
B. Details of employment (past & present).
December 2008 to continuing: As Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology
Patna.
September 2008 to December 2008: As Research Assistant Professor at Centre for
Information Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), San 31,
Hyoja-dong, Namgu, Pohang, 790 784, South Korea
August 2007 to September 2008: As Researcher in the Department of Chemistry and BK
School of Molecular Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH),
San 31, Hyoja-dong, Namgu, Pohang, 790 784, South Korea
C. List of publications during last five years (with complete details such as Journal
name, all the authors name as appeared in the journal, volume number, page number
and the year of publication).
1. M. Lakshmi Kantam, V. Neeraja, B. Kavita, B. Neelima, Mihir K. Chaudhuri and
Sahid Hussain, Cu(acac)2 immobilized in ionic liquids: A recoverable and reusable
catalytic system for aza-Michael Reactions Adv. Synth. Catal. 2005, 347, 763-766.
2. Mihir K. Chaudhuri, Sanjay K. Dehury and Sahid Hussain, Barbier coupling in
water: SnCl2-mediated and Co(acac)2-catalyzed allylation of carbonyls Tetrahedron
Lett. 2005, 46, 6247-6251.
3. Mihir K. Chaudhuri, Sanjay K. Dehury, Sahid Hussain, Ankur Duarah, Nayanmoni
Gogoi and M. Lakshmi Kantam, 3,5-Dimethylpyrazolium Fluorochromate(VI)catalyzed oxidation of organic substrates by hydrogen peroxide under solvent-free
conditions Adv. Synth. Catal. 2005, 347, 1349-1352.
4. Mihir K. Chaudhuri, Sahid Hussain, M. Lakshmi Kantam and B. Neelima, Boric
acid: A novel and safer catalyst for aza-Michael reaction in water Tetrahedron Lett.
2005, 46, 8329-8331.
5. Mihir K. Chaudhuri and Sahid Hussain, An efficient synthesis of quinolines under
solvent-free conditions J. Chem Sci. 2006, 118, 199-202.
6. Mihir K. Chaudhuri, Sanjay K. Dehury, Sahid Hussain, Ankur Duarah and
Nayanmoni Gogoi, The selective solid-phase oxidation of alcohols and other organic
substrates by 3,5-dimethylpyrazolium fluorochromate Org. Prep. Proc. Int. 2006, 38,
331-336.

15

7. Sahid Hussain, Saitanya K. Bharadwaj, Mihir K. Chaudhuri and Harjyoti Kalita,

Borax as an efficient metal-free catalyst for hetero-Michael reactions in aqueous
medium Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2007, 374-378.
8. Mihir K. Chaudhuri and Sahid Hussain, Boric acid catalyzed thia-Michael reactions
in water or alcohol J. Mol.Catal. A: Chemical 2007, 269, 214-217.
9. Sahid Hussain, Gopal Das and Mihir K. Chaudhuri, Intermolecular hydrogen bonded
and self-assembled -pleated sheet structures of sulfidocarbonyls J. Mol. Structure,
2007, 837, 190-196.
10. Saitanya K. Bharadwaj, Sahid Hussain, Manoranjan Kar and Mihir K. Chaudhuri,
Al(H2PO4)3: An efficient catalyst for nitration of organic compounds with nitric acid
Catal. Commun, 2008, 9, 919-923.
11. Saitanya K. Bharadwaj, Sahid Hussain, Manoranjan Kar and Mihir K. Chaudhuri,
Acid phosphate impregnated titania catalyzed nitration of aromatic compounds with
nitric acid Appl. Catal. A: General, 2008, 343, 62-67.
12. Saitanya K. Bharadwaj, Susanda N. Sharma, Sahid Hussain, Mihir K. Chaudhuri,
Chemoselective sulfoxidation by H2O2 or HNO3 using a phosphate impregnated
titania catalyst Tetrahedron Lett. 2009, 50, 3767-3771.
13. Sahid Hussain, Saitanya K. Bharadwaj, Ravindra Pandey, Mihir K. Chaudhuri,
Borax-catalyzed and pH-controlled selective oxidation of organic sulfides by H2O2: An
environmentally clean protocol Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2009, 3319-3322.
14. Sahid Hussain, Nayoun Won, Jutaek Nam, Jiwon Bang, Hyokyun Chung, Sungjee
Kim, One-pot fabrication of high-quality InP/ZnS (core/shell) quantum dots and their
application to cellular imaging ChemPhysChem, 2009, 10, 1466-1470.
6. Professional recognition, awards, fellowships received:
Qualified CSIR-NET-JRF in 2003 (conducted jointly by UGC-CSIR under Ministry of
Human Resources and Development, India for Junior Research Fellowship and eligibility for
lectureship held in December 2003).
7. Any other information.
NIL

Place & date:

Signature of the applicant

16

Annexure-I
(Statement from Employer)
This is to certify that:
I. Dr. Sahid Hussain, the Principal Investigator in the project entitled Fabrication of Highly
Fluorescent Quantum Dots for Biomedical Applications will assume full responsibility for
implementing the project.
II. The date of appointment starts from the date on which the University/Institute receives
the bank draft/cheque from the Department of Science & Technology.
III. The Investigator will be governed by the rules and regulations of the University/
Institute and will be under administrative control of the University/ Institute for the duration
of the project.
IV. The grant-in-aid by the Department of Science & Technology will be used to meet the
expenditure on the project and for the period for which the project has been sanctioned as
indicated in the sanction letter/ order.
V. No administrative or other liability will be attached to the Department of Science &
Technology at the end of the project.
VI. The University/ Institute will provide basic infrastructure and other required facilities to
the investigator for undertaking the research project.
VII. The University/ Institute will take into its books all assets received under this sanction
and its disposal would be at the discretion of Department of Science & Technology.
VIII. Institute assumes to undertake the financial and other management responsibilities of
the project.

Seal of University/Institute Signature

Registrar of University/Head of Institute

17