TY - JOUR A1 - Kage, Daniel A1 - Fischer, Linn A1 - Hoffmann, Katrin A1 - Thiele, T. A1 - Schedler, U. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Close spectroscopic look at dye-stained polymer microbeads T2 - The Journal of Physical Chemistry C N2 - Dye-stained micrometer-sized polymer beads are important tools in the life sciences with applications in biomedical, biochemical, and clinical research. Here, bead-based assays are increasingly used, for example, in DNA sequencing and the detection of autoimmune diseases or pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, stained beads are employed as calibration tools for fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry methods with increasing complexity. To address the requirements concerning the relevant fluorescence features, the spectroscopic properties of representative polymer beads with diameters ranging from about 1 to 10 μm stained with varying concentrations of rhodamine 6G were systematically assessed. The observed dependence of the spectral properties, fluorescence decay kinetics, and fluorescence quantum yields on bead size and dye loading concentration is attributed to different fluorescence characteristics of fluorophores located in the particle core and near-surface dye molecules. Supported by the fluorescence anisotropy measurements, the origin of the observed alteration of fluorescence features is ascribed to a combination of excitation energy transfer and polarity-related effects that are especially pronounced at the interface of the bead and the surrounding medium. The results of our studies underline the need to carefully control and optimize all Parameters that can affect the fluorescence properties of the dye-stained beads. PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC KW - Fluorophore KW - Polymer particles KW - Photophysics KW - Life sciences KW - Standards PY - 2018 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/45453 AN - OPUS4-45453 SN - 1932-7447 VL - 122 IS - 24 SP - 12782 EP - 12791 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany