Cadmium selenide nanoparticle crystals

Botti and Marques addressed this problem for two experimentally synthesized cadmium selenide nanoparticles (CdSe)33 and (CdSe)34. For these clusters, the X-ray analysis showed a coordination number between 3 and 4 for the selenium atoms, which gave rise to the assumption of a cage-like structure. These cage structures are significantly different from structures that are derived from the wurtzite crystal structure, where the resulting particles are rather compact. So far, there has not been any experimental proof of the existence of such CdSe cages. 

If the nanodispersed species have sizes of the order of 10 nm, diagnostic agents encapsulated in such nanoparticles could potentially cross into human cells. For example, 10 nm diameter, silica-coated, cadmium selenide crystals have been able to transfer into vesicles and be transported by them [901], These protein-sized particles fluoresce for long periods of time making them potentially useful for diagnostic labelling. 

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