Radiation driven synthesis of MnSe nanoparticles with dual luminescence and magnetic characteristics and its role in photocatalytic reactions

Many biomedical applications can greatly benefit from the combination of photoluminescence and magnetic properties of non-toxic manganese-based nanomaterials and thus, it demands for synthesizing such materials in an aqueous environment. The present work reports aqueous synthesis of starch-capped manganese selenide (MnSe) nanoparticles (NPs) through a steady-state gamma irradiation route under ambient pressure and room temperature. As radiolysis is considered as the cleanest method among available chemical approaches, we preferred to employ this technique and endeavored to establish optimal conditions of such synthesis. The as-produced MnSe nanocrystals demonstrated strong photoluminescence with a quantum yield of ca. 32% and co-existence of paramagnetic with antiferromagnetic behavior. To look into possible light-induced reactions with aromatic molecules, the effectiveness of synthesized particles on photo-induced degradation of dyes of similar structure was investigated. The proposed strategy may pave the way for synthesizing magneto-fluorescent nanoparticles in aqueous medium, which may find immense scope in nano-photonics and nano-biotechnology including biological assays, labelling and imaging.