TY - CONF A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Coro, A. A1 - Marquez, R. M. A1 - Le Guevel, X. A1 - Juarez, B. H. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Exploring the photoluminescence of gold NCs and Ag2S NPs to boost their SWIR emission N2 - Current challenges and objectives for non-invasive optical bioimaging are deep tissue penetration, high detection sensitivity, high spatial and temporal resolution, and fast data acquisition. A promising spectral window to tackle these challenges is the short-wave infrared (SWIR) ranging from 900 nm to 1700 nm where scattering, absorption, and autofluorescence of biological components are strongly reduced compared to the visible/NIR. At present, the best performing SWIR contrast agents are based on nanomaterials containing toxic heavy-metal ions like cadmium or lead, which raises great concerns for biological applications. Promising heavy-metal free nanoscale candidates are gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) and Ag2S nanoparticles (NPs). The photoluminescence (PL) of both types of nanomaterials is very sensitive to their size, composition of their surface ligand shell, and element composition, which provides an elegant handle to fine-tune their absorption and emission features and boost thereby the size of the signals recorded in bioimaging studies. Aiming for the development of SWIR contrast agents with optimum performance, we dived deeper into the photophysical processes occurring in these nanomaterials, thereby exploring in depth how the environment, surface ligand composition, and the incorporation of transition metals influence the optical properties of AuNCs and Ag2S NPs. We observed a strong enhancement of the SWIR emission of AuNCs upon exposure to different local environments (in solution, polymer, and in the solid state). Addition of metal ions such as Zn2+ to Ag2S based NPs led to a strong PL enhancement, yielding PL quantum yields of about 10% and thus making them highly suitable for non-invasive deep imaging of vascular networks and 3D fluid flow mapping. T2 - NaNaX 10 - Nanoscience with Nanocrystals CY - Klosterneuburg, Austria DA - 03.07.2023 KW - Quantum dots KW - Ag2S KW - Fluorescence KW - SWIR KW - Gold nanocluster KW - Nanomaterial KW - bioimaging PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58104 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Coro, A. A1 - Le Guevel, X. A1 - Juarez, B. H. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - SWIR luminescent nanomaterials – key chemical parameters for bright probes for in vivo bioimaging N2 - A current challenge for studying physio-pathological phenomena and diseaserelated processes in living organisms with non-invasive optical bioimaging is the development of bright optical reporters that enable deep tissue penetration, a high detection sensitivity, and a high spatial and temporal resolution. The focus of this project are nanomaterials, which absorb and emit in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) between ~900–2500 nm where scattering, absorption, and autofluorescence of the tissue are strongly reduced compared to the visible and NIR. T2 - QD2024 - 12th International Conference on Quantum Dots CY - Munich, Germany DA - 18.03.2024 KW - Quantum dots KW - Advanced nanomaterials KW - Fluorescence KW - Quality assurance KW - Gold nanocluster KW - Shortwave infrared KW - Spectroscopy KW - Bioimaging PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-59783 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Matiushkina, Anna A1 - Litvinov, I. A1 - Bazhenova, A. A1 - Belyaeva, T. A1 - Dubavik, A. A1 - Veniaminov, A. A1 - Maslov, V. A1 - Kornilova, E. A1 - Orlova, A. A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Synthesis and physical properties studies of bifunctional nanocomposites N2 - At present, the field of research on nanostructures is actively developing, which is due to their unique physico-chemical properties compared to bulk materials. Many research activities are focused on obtaining nanocomposites, which combine various types of nanostructures with different properties and function. For example, the development of magneto-luminescent nanocomposites makes it possible to use their luminescence for optical imaging, and their magnetic properties for magnetic targeted delivery and as agents of hyperthermia and magnetic resonance imaging. My master studies as part of the project Goszadanie 2019-1080 at ITMO were focused on the investigation of nanocomposites, consisting of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) as luminescent component and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as magnetic one, in solution and during their incubation with HeLa cells. The spectrally resolved analysis of the QD photoluminescence (PL) kinetics of the free QDs and the QDs incorporated in these nanocomposites undergoing energy transfer processes allowed for (1) understanding the reasons for the quenching of QD luminescence in cells, (2) evaluating the average distance between the QDs and, based on this, concluding the degree of QD aggregation in cells, and (3) drawing conclusions about the QD-quencher composites integrity in cells. Overall, the analysis of the PL kinetics confirmed that QDs and SPIONs remain bound in the obtained nanocomposites during incubation with cells. To ensure the successful advancement of nanomaterials in biomedicine and the transition from their laboratory preparation and studies to their use in different applications and in industry, it is crucial to develop reliable measurement methods and reference materials candidates for the characterization of functional nanomaterials and assessing the quality of the obtained nanostructures. My recently started project at BAM, which is part of the EU metrology project MeTrINo, will be devoted to this topic. There we will focus on the development of methodologies for the synthesis and characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles, already used in biomedicine, and multi-element lanthanide-based nanoparticles with attractive upconversion luminescence, as reference materials with high monodispersity and reproducibility. Also, these nanoparticles will be functionalized with organic dyes for optical imaging and, probably, the study of the energy transfer phenomena. T2 - Bad Honnef Summer School CY - Bad Honnef, Germany DA - 30.07.2023 KW - Quantum dots KW - Iron oxide nanoparticles KW - Upconversion nanoparticles PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58075 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -