  Liquid scintillators are typically composed from organic compounds dissolved
in organic solvents. However, usage of such material is often restricted due to
fire safety and environmental reasons. Because of this, R\&D of water-based
liquid scintillators is of extreme relevance; yet, no such scintillators have
been made commercially available as yet. Here, we investigate an alternative,
water-based quantum dots liquid scintillator. Pre-determined and controllable
optical properties of the quantum dots, as well as the existence of large
libraries of established protocols for their dispersion in aqueous solutions,
make them an attractive option for nuclear and particle physics applications.
We characterize the optical properties of water-based quantum dots liquid
scintillator and find that most of its optical properties are preserved upon
quantum dots' phase transfer into water, through the addition of an oleic acid
hydrophilic layer. Using the developed scintillator, the time and charge
responses from atmospheric muons are measured, highlighting the practical
viability of water-based quantum dots liquid scintillators for nuclear and
particle physics, special interest on neutrino physics.
