TY - JOUR A1 - Fiedler, Saskia A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Grüne, M. A1 - Schweizer, S. A1 - Engel, A. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Interlaboratory Comparison on Absolute Photoluminescence Quantum Yield Measurements of Solid Light Converting Phosphors with Three Commercial Integrating Sphere Setups JF - American Chemical Society N2 - Scattering luminescent materials dispersed in liquid and solid matrices and luminescent powders are increasingly relevant for fundamental research and industry. Examples are luminescent nano- and microparticles and phosphors of different compositions in various matrices or incorporated into ceramics with applications in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. The key parameter to characterize the performance of these materials is the photoluminescence/fluorescence quantum yield (Φf), i.e., the number of emitted photons per number of absorbed photons. To identify and quantify the sources of uncertainty of absolute measurements of Φf of scattering samples, the first interlaboratory comparison (ILC) of three laboratories from academia and industry was performed by following identical measurement protocols. Thereby, two types ofcommercial stand-alone integrating sphere setups with different illumination and detection geometries were utilized for measuring the Φf of transparent and scattering dye solutions and solid phosphors, namely, YAG:Ce optoceramics of varying surface roughness, used as converter materials for blue light emitting diodes. Special emphasis was dedicated to the influence of the measurement geometry, the optical properties of the blank utilized to determine the number of photons of the incident excitation light absorbed by the sample, and the sample-specific surface roughness. While the Φf values of the liquid samples matched between instruments, Φf measurements of the optoceramics with different blanks revealed substantial differences. The ILC results underline the importance of the measurement geometry, sample position, and blank for reliable Φf data of scattering the YAG:Ce optoceramics, with the blank’s optical properties accounting for uncertainties exceeding 20%. KW - Nano KW - Fluorescence KW - Reference material KW - Luminescence KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Particle KW - Quantum yield KW - Quality assurance KW - Phosphor KW - Converter material KW - Lifetime KW - Interlaboratory comparison KW - Method KW - Uncertainty PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-600945 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c00372 SN - 0003-2700 SP - 6730 EP - 6737 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-60094 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chazeau, E. A1 - Fabre, C. A1 - Privat, M. A1 - Godard, A. A1 - Racoeur, C. A1 - Bodio, E. A1 - Busser, B. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Sancey, L. A1 - Paul, C. A1 - Goze, C. T1 - Comparison of the In Vitro and In Vivo Behavior of a Series of NIR-II-Emitting Aza-BODIPYs Containing Different Water-Solubilizing Groups and Their Trastuzumab Antibody Conjugates JF - Journal of Medicinal Chemistry N2 - The development of new fluorescent organic probes effective in the NIR-II region is currently a fast-growing field and represents a challenge in the domain of medical imaging. In this study, we have designed and synthesized an innovative series of aza-boron dipyrromethenes emitting in the NIR-II region. We have investigated the effect of different water-solubilizing groups not only on the photophysical properties of the compounds but also on their in vitro and in vivo performance after bioconjugation to the antibody trastuzumab. Remarkably, we discovered that the most lipophilic compound unexpectedly displayed the most favorable in vivo properties after bioconjugation. This underlines the profound influence that the fluorophore functionalization approach can have on the efficiency of the resulting imaging agent. KW - NIR-II KW - In vivo imaging KW - Fluorescence KW - Spectroscopy KW - Antibody conjugates PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c02139 SN - 1520-4804 VL - 67 IS - 5 SP - 3679 EP - 3691 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-59607 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Geißler, Daniel A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Fischer, C. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Exploring Simple Particle-Based Signal Amplification Strategies in a Heterogeneous Sandwich Immunoassay with Optical Detection JF - Analytical Chemistry N2 - Heterogeneous sandwich immunoassays are widely used for biomarker detection in bioanalysis and medical diagnostics. The high analyte sensitivity of the current “gold standard” enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) originates from the signal-generating enzymatic amplification step, yielding a high number of optically detectable reporter molecules. For future point-of-care testing (POCT) and point-of-need applications, there is an increasing interest in more simple detection strategies that circumvent time-consuming and temperature-dependent enzymatic reactions. A common concept to aim for detection limits comparable to those of enzymatic amplification reactions is the usage of polymer nanoparticles (NP) stained with a large number of chromophores. We explored different simple NP-based signal amplification strategies for heterogeneous sandwich immunoassays that rely on an extraction-triggered release step of different types of optically detectable reporters. Therefore, streptavidinfunctionalized polystyrene particles (PSP) are utilized as carriers for (i) the fluorescent dye coumarin 153 (C153) and (ii) hemin (hem) molecules catalyzing the luminol reaction enabling chemiluminescence (CL) detection. Additionally, (iii) NP labeling with hemin-based microperoxidase MP11 was assessed. For each amplification approach, the PSP was first systematically optimized regarding size, loading concentration, and surface chemistry. Then, for an immunoassay for the inflammation marker C- eactive protein (CRP), the analyte sensitivity achievable with optimized PSP ystems was compared with the established ELISA concept for photometric and CL detection. Careful optimization led to a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 ng/mL for MP11-labeled PSP and CL detection, performing similarly well to a photometric ELISA (0.13 ng/mL), which demonstrates the huge potential of our novel assay concept. KW - Nanoparticle KW - Fluorescence KW - Immunoassay KW - Quality assurance KW - Antibody KW - Polymer KW - Dye KW - Signal enhancement KW - CRP KW - Biosensing PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597853 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.3c03691 SN - 1520-6882 VL - 96 IS - 13 SP - 5078 EP - 5085 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Columbus, Ohio AN - OPUS4-59785 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Quantum dots JF - Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry N2 - The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Aleksey I. Ekimov (prize share 1/3), Louis E. Brus (prize share 1/3), and Moungi G. Bawendi (prize share 1/3) for groundbreaking inventions in the field of nanotechnology, i.e., for the discovery and synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals, also termed quantum dots, that exhibit size-dependent physicochemical properties enabled by quantum size effects. This feature article summarizes the main milestones of the discoveries and developments of quantum dots that paved the road to their versatile applications in solid-state lighting, display technology, energy conversion, medical diagnostics, bioimaging, and image-guided surgery. KW - Quantum dots KW - Semiconductor nanocrystals KW - Luminescence KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Quantum yield KW - Advanced nanomaterials KW - Quality assurance KW - Energy transfer PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597843 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05225-9 VL - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Springer CY - Cham AN - OPUS4-59784 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oskolkova, Tatiana O. A1 - Matiushkina, Anna A. A1 - Borodina, Lyubov' N. A1 - Smirnova, Ekaterina S. A1 - Dadadzhanova, Antonina I. A1 - Sewid, Fayza A. A1 - Veniaminov, Andrey V. A1 - Moiseeva, Ekaterina O. A1 - Orlova, Anna O. T1 - FRET‐Amplified Singlet Oxygen Generation by Nanocomposites Comprising Ternary AgInS2/ZnS Quantum Dots and Molecular Photosensitizers JF - ChemNanoMat N2 - Antibacterial photodynamic therapy (a‐PDT) has emerged as a promising non‐invasive therapeutic modality that utilizes the combination of a photosensitive agent, molecular oxygen, and excitation light to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), demonstrating remarkable activity against multidrug‐resistant bacterial infections. However, the effective use of conventional photosensitizers is significantly limited by a number of their shortcomings, namely, poor water solubility and low selectivity. Herein, we present a novel biocompatible water‐soluble nanocomposite based on hydrophobic tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) molecules and hydrophilic ternary AgInS2/ZnS quantum dots incorporated into a chitosan matrix as an improved photosensitizer for a‐PDT. We demonstrated that TPP molecules could be successfully transferred into chitosan solution while remaining primarily in the form of monomers, which are capable of singlet oxygen generation. We performed a detailed analysis of the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between quantum dots and TPP molecules within the nanocomposite and proposed the mechanism of the singlet oxygen efficiency enhancement via FRET. KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Quantum dot KW - Fluorescence KW - Synthesis KW - Optical spectroscopy KW - Energy transfer KW - Quality assurance KW - Lifetime KW - Quantum yield PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/cnma.202300469 SN - 2199-692X VL - 10 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-59728 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - López-Iglesias, C. A1 - Markovina, A. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, N. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Klinger, D. T1 - Optically monitoring the microenvironment of a hydrophobic cargo in amphiphilic nanogels: influence of network composition on loading and release JF - Nanoscale N2 - Amphiphilic nanogels (ANGs) are promising carriers for hydrophobic cargos such as drugs, dyes, and catalysts. Loading content and release kinetics of these compounds are controlled by type and number of hydrophobic groups in the amphiphilic copolymer network. Thus, understanding the interactions between cargo and colloidal carrier is mandatory for a tailor-made and cargo-specific ANG design. To systematically explore the influence of the network composition on these interactions, we prepared a set of ANGs of different amphiphilicity and loaded these ANGs with varying concentrations of the solvatochromic dye Nile Red (NR). Here, NR acts as a hydrophobic model cargo to optically probe the polarity of its microenvironment. Analysis of the NR emission spectra as well as measurements of the fluorescence quantum yields and decay kinetics revealed a decrease in the polarity of the NR microenvironment with increasing hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic groups in the ANG network and dye–dye interactions at higher loading concentrations. At low NR concentrations, the hydrophobic cargo NR is encapsulated in the hydrophobic domains. Increasing NR concentrations resulted in probe molecules located in a more hydrophilic environment, i.e., at the nanodomain border, and favored dye–dye interactions and NR aggregation. These results correlate well with release experiments, indicating first NR release from more hydrophilic network locations. Overall, our findings demonstrate the importance to understand carrier–drug interactions for efficient loading and controlled release profiles in amphiphilic nanogels. KW - Particle KW - Energy transfer KW - Limit of detection KW - Polymer KW - Luminescence KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Nano KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Quality assurance KW - Dye KW - Probe KW - Sensor KW - Nile Red PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601603 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d4nr00051j SN - 2040-3364 IS - 16 SP - 9525 EP - 9535 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-60160 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scholtz, Lena A1 - Eckert, J. G. A1 - Graf, Rebecca T. A1 - Kunst, A. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Bigall, N. C. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Correlating semiconductor nanoparticle architecture and applicability for the controlled encoding of luminescent polymer microparticles JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Luminophore stained micro- and nanobeads made from organic polymers like polystyrene (PS) are broadly used in the life and material sciences as luminescent reporters, for bead-based assays, sensor arrays, printable barcodes, security inks, and the calibration of fluorescence microscopes and flow cytometers. Initially mostly prepared with organic dyes, meanwhile luminescent core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) like spherical semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are increasingly employed for bead encoding. This is related to their narrower emission spectra, tuneability of emission color, broad wavelength excitability, and better photostability. However, correlations between particle architecture, morphology, and photoluminescence (PL) of the luminescent nanocrystals used for encoding and the optical properties of the NP-stained beads have been rarely explored. This encouraged us to perform a screening study on the incorporation of different types of luminescent core/shell semiconductor nanocrystals into polymer microparticles (PMPs) by a radical-induced polymerization reaction. Nanocrystals explored include CdSe/CdS QDs of varying CdS shell thickness, a CdSe/ZnS core/shell QD, CdSe/CdS quantum rods (QRs), and CdSe/CdS nanoplatelets (NPLs). Thereby, we focused on the applicability of these NPs for the polymerization synthesis approach used and quantified the preservation of the initial NP luminescence. The spectroscopic characterization of the resulting PMPs revealed the successful staining of the PMPs with luminescent CdSe/CdS QDs and CdSe/CdS NPLs. In contrast, usage of CdSe/CdS QRs and CdSe QDs with a ZnS shell did not yield luminescent PMPs. The results of this study provide new insights into structure–property relationships between NP stained PMPs and the initial luminescent NPs applied for staining and underline the importance of such studies for the performance optimization of NP-stained beads. KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Energy transfer KW - Synthesis KW - Surface chemistry KW - Semiconductor quantum dot KW - Luminescence KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Quality assurance KW - Polymer particle KW - Quantum rod KW - Nanoplatelet PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-602206 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62591-1 VL - 14 SP - 1 EP - 16 AN - OPUS4-60220 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reiber, T. A1 - Hübner, Oskar A1 - Dose, C. A1 - Yushchenko, D. A. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Fluorophore multimerization on a PEG backbone as a concept for signal amplification and lifetime modulation JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Fluorescent labels have strongly contributed to many advancements in bioanalysis, molecular biology, molecular imaging, and medical diagnostics. Despite a large toolbox of molecular and nanoscale fluorophores to choose from, there is still a need for brighter labels, e.g., for flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy, that are preferably of molecular nature. This requires versatile concepts for fluorophore multimerization, which involves the shielding of dyes from other chromophores and possible quenchers in their neighborhood. In addition, to increase the number of readout parameters for fluorescence microscopy and eventually also flow cytometry, control and tuning of the labels’ fluorescence lifetimes is desired. Searching for bright multi-chromophoric or multimeric labels, we developed PEGylated dyes bearing functional groups for their bioconjugation and explored their spectroscopic properties and photostability in comparison to those of the respective monomeric dyes for two exemplarily chosen fluorophores excitable at 488 nm. Subsequently, these dyes were conjugated with anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 immunoglobulins to obtain fluorescent conjugates suitable for the labeling of cells and beads. Finally, the suitability of these novel labels for fluorescence lifetime imaging and target discrimination based upon lifetime measurements was assessed. Based upon the results of our spectroscopic studies including measurements of fluorescence quantum yields (QY) and fluorescence decay kinetics we could demonstrate the absence of significant dye-dye interactions and self-quenching in these multimeric labels. Moreover, in a first fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) study, we could show the future potential of this multimerization concept for lifetime discrimination and multiplexing. KW - Imaging KW - Quantum yield KW - Quality assurance KW - Antibody KW - Conjugate KW - Cell KW - FLIM KW - PEG KW - Flow cytometry KW - Lifetime KW - Energy transfer KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Fluorescence KW - Dye KW - Amplification KW - Microscopy PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-602197 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62548-4 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 11 AN - OPUS4-60219 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meng, M. A1 - Zhang, T. A1 - Wang, J. A1 - Cheng, Z. A1 - Liu, Y. A1 - Qiao, X. A1 - Wen, J. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Long, W. A1 - Ou, J. T1 - NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4:Yb3+ Upconversion Nanoparticles for Optical Temperature Monitoring and Self-Heating in Photothermal Therapy JF - Applied nano materials N2 - The core−shell NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4:Yb3+ upconversion nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a solvothermal method, and a layer of mesoporous silica (mSiO2) was successfully coated on the periphery of the core−shell nanoparticles to transform their surface from lipophilic to hydrophilic, further expanding their applications in biological tissues. The physical phase, morphology, structure, and fluorescence properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ζ potential analysis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. It was found that the material has a hexagonal structure with good hydrophilicity and emits intense fluorescence under 980 nm pump laser excitation. The non-contact temperature sensing performance of nanoparticles was evaluated by analyzing the upconversion fluorescence of Tm3+ (1G4 → 3F4 and 3F3 → 3H6) in the temperature range of 284−344 K. The absolute and relative sensitivities were found to be 0.0067 K−1 and 1.08 % K−1, respectively, with high-temperature measurement reliability and good temperature cycling performance. More importantly, its temperature measurement in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution is accurate. In addition, the temperature of the cells can be increased by adjusting the laser power density and laser irradiation time. Therefore, an optical temperature sensing platform was built to realize the application of real-time monitoring of cancer cell temperature and the dual function of photothermal therapy. KW - Sensor KW - Temperature KW - Lanthanide KW - Tag KW - Fluorescence KW - Nanoparticles KW - Synthesis KW - Environment KW - Monitoring KW - Sensing KW - Nano KW - Life sciences KW - Upconversion PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.2c05110 VL - 6 IS - 1 SP - 759 EP - 771 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-57081 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meng, M. A1 - Zhang, T. A1 - Wang, J. A1 - Cheng, Z. A1 - Li, Z. A1 - Qiao, X. A1 - Wen, J. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Long, W. A1 - Ou, Jun T1 - Preparation of NaYF4: Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4@β-CD upconversion nanoparticles and application of their fluorescence temperature sensing properties JF - Optical Materials N2 - The NaYF4: Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4@β-CD upconversion nanoparticles were successfully prepared by the solvothermal method, and the samples were pure hexagonal phase with good crystallinity and homogeneous size, asevidenced by XRD and TEM analysis. The FT-IR analysis shows that β-CD is successfully encapsulated on the surface of NaYF4: Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4 nanoparticles. The fluorescence intensity 3and lifetime were significantly increased after coating the inert layer on the surface of core nanoparticles. After further surface modification of β-CD, the fluorescence intensity and fluorescence lifetime were reduced, but the overall fluorescence was stronger. Temperature measurements using the fluorescence intensity ratio technique were found to have relatively low reliability and absolute sensitivity for temperature measurements using thermally coupled energy levels. However, the reliability of temperature measurements using non-thermally coupled energy levels is significantly higher and the absolute sensitivity is much higher than for measurements at thermally coupled levels. Since the maximum absolute sensitivity, maximum relative sensitivity and minimum temperature resolution are determined to be 0.1179 K-1, 2.19 %K􀀀 1 and 0.00019 K, respectively, NaYF4: Yb3+/Tm3+@NaYF4@β-CD upconversion nanoparticles are expected to be widely used in the biomedical field due to their feasibility, reliability, non-toxicity and harmlessness. KW - Upconversion KW - Surface modification KW - Fluorescence intensity ratio KW - Thermally coupled levels KW - Non-thermally coupled levels PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2022.113389 SN - 0925-3467 VL - 136 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-57105 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -