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We synthesized a generation of water-soluble, atomically precise gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) with anisotropic Surface containing a short dithiol pegylated chain (AuMHA/TDT). The AuMHA/TDT exhibit a high brightness (QY ∼ 6%) in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectrum with a detection above 1250 nm.
Furthermore, they show an extended half-life in blood (t1/2ß = 19.54 ± 0.05 h) and a very weak accumulation in organs. We also developed a non-invasive, whole-body vascular imaging system in the SWIR window with high-resolution, benefiting from a series of Monte Carlo image processing. The imaging process enabled to improve contrast by 1 order of magnitude and enhance the spatial Resolution by 59%. After systemic administration of these nanoprobes in mice, we can quantify vessel complexity in depth (>4 mm), allowing to detect very subtle vascular disorders non-invasively in bone morphogenetic protein 9 (Bmp9)-deficient mice. The combination of these anisotropic surface charged Au NCs plus an improved SWIR imaging device allows a precise mapping at high-resolution and an in depth understanding of the organization of the vascular network in live animals.
Molecular aggregation alters the optical properties of a system as fluorescence may be activated or quenched. This is usually described within the well-established framework of H- and J-aggregates. While H-aggregates show nonfluorescent blueshifted absorption bands with respect to the isolated monomer, Jaggregates are fluorescent displaying a redshifted peak. In this publication, we employ a combined approach of experiment and theory to study the complex aggregation features and photophysical properties of diaminodicyanoquinone derivatives, which show unusual and puzzling nonfluorescent redshifted Absorption bands upon aggregation. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that stable aggregates do not account for the experimental observations.
Instead, we propose an unprecedented mechanism involving metastable dimeric species formed from stable dimers to generate nonfluorescent J-aggregates. These results represent a novel kind of aggregation-induced optical effect and may have Broad implications for the photophysics of dye aggregates.
The concept of aggregation-induced emission represents a means to rationalise photoluminescence of usually nonfluorescent excimers in solid-state materials. In this publication, we study the photophysical properties of selected diaminodicyanoquinone (DADQ) derivatives in the solid state using a combined approach of experiment and theory. DADQs are a class of high-dipole organic chromophores promising for applications in non-linear optics and light-harvesting devices. Among the compounds investigated, we find both aggregation-induced emission and aggregation-caused quenching effects rationalised by calculated energy transfer rates. Analysis of fluorescence spectra and lifetime measurements provide the interesting result that (at least) two emissive species seem to contribute to the photophysical properties of DADQs. The main emission peak is notably broadened in the long-wavelength limit and exhibits a blue-shifted shoulder. We employ high-level quantum-chemical methods to validate a molecular approach to a solid-state problem and show that the complex emission features of DADQs can be attributed to a combination of H-type aggregates, monomers, and crystal structure defects.
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.
SWIR luminescent nanomaterials – key chemical parameters for bright probes for in vivo bioimaging
(2024)
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.
Fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots (QDs), enabled many advancements in biotechnology, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, quantum computing and display devices. The high versatility of this nanomaterial is based on their unique size-tunable photoluminescence properties, which can be adjusted from the visible to the near-infrared range. In contrast to other nanomaterials, QDs made the transition from a laboratory curiosity to the utilization in commercial products, like the QLED television screen or in smartphone displays. The best investigated QDs are composed of heavy metals like cadmium or lead, which is not the best choice in terms of toxicity and environmental pollution. A more promising material is Indium Phosphide (InP), which is also currently used by Samsung, Sony and co. in the QLED displays.
In this contribution, I would like to give you a sneak peek behind the curtains of nanomaterial synthesis and show how this material is produced, how to stabilize their structural properties, and assess their toxicity in environmentally relevant conditions. Furthermore, I would like to present a synthesis method to accomplish the last open challenge in display technology of a blue luminescent LED based on QDs by introducing a new element to the InP QDs.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) used for treating cancer relies on the generation of highly reactive oxygen species, for example, singlet oxygen 1O2, by light-induced excitation of a photosensitizer (PS) in the presence of molecular oxygen, inducing DNA damage in close proximity of the PS. Although many precious metal complexes have been explored as PS for PDT and received clinical approval, only recently, the potential of photoactive complexes of nonnoble metals as PS has been discovered. Using the DNA origami technology that can absolutely quantify DNA strand break cross sections, we assessed the potential of the luminescent transition metal complex [Cr(ddpd)2]3+ (ddpd=N,N’-dimethyl-N,N’-dipyridine-2-ylpyridine-2,6-diamine) to damage DNA in an air-saturated aqueous environment upon UV/Vis illumination. The quantum yield for strand breakage, that is, the ratio of DNA strand breaks to the number of absorbed photons, was determined to 1–4%, indicating efficient transformation of photons into DNA strand breaks by [Cr(ddpd)2]3+.
The widespread use of antibiotics in livestock farming leads to trace residues in food products and wastewater, potentially entailing antimicrobial resistance in food-borne pathogens. The determination of antibiotics in aqueous environments and foodstuff is thus of major concern.
Analytical assays based on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have emerged as a valuable tool in this field due to the low production costs, stability, format adaptability and the possibility to imprint and thus their ability to recognize a wide variety of target analytes. With regard to optical sensing technologies, however, MIPs have only been used in considerably few applications, especially in fluorescence sensors. This limitation is basically due to the fact that the incorporation of a fluorescently responding moiety into a polymer matrix is challenging. One way to overcome this limitation is to use tailor-made fluorescent indicator monomers for direct transfer of the binding event into an optical signal. If such a monomer is integrated into a thin MIP-shell on microspheres such core/shell particles can be readily used in advanced multiplexing sensory fiber-optic microarrays.
Here, we propose such a fiber-optic microarray based on fluorescent MIP microspheres for antibiotics. The binding behavior and the selectivity of a microarray using these MIP were examined and compared with a non-imprinted polymer (NIP) control, employing the target molecules and other structurally closely related antibiotics.
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is one important and well-known herbicide that is widely used in agriculture because of its advantages to regulate plant growth. However, the use of large quantities of the treated plants as animal feed leads to residues in meat, milk and eggs. Furthermore, the herbicide can drain away and contaminate ground and drinking water. The ingestion of 2,4-D-contaminated food and water causes damage to the inner organs of humans and animals, e.g., the kidneys and the liver.
Analytical assays based on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have emerged as a valuable tool in the field of environmental analysis due to the low production costs, stability, format adaptability and the possibility to imprint and thus their ability to recognize a wide variety of target analytes. With regard to optical sensing technologies, however, MIPs have only been used in considerably few applications, especially in fluorescence sensors. This limitation is basically due to the fact that the incorporation of a fluorescently responding moiety into a polymer matrix is challenging. One way to overcome this limitation is to use tailor-made fluorescent indicator monomers for direct transfer of the binding event into an optical signal and coat the MIP via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization as a thin layer onto the surface of silica nanoparticles as primary sensing element.
Here, we present the response behavior of the fluorescent MIP sensor particles in terms of sensitivity for 2,4-D detection (the so-called imprinting factor), discrimination ability against structurally similar compounds and performance in a phase-transfer assay (PTA) on chip, i.e., the implementation of the assay into a microfluidic chip environment, offering a novel simple and rapid way for the detection of herbicides.
Bifunctional fluorescent molecular oxoanion probes based on the benzoxadiazole (BD) chromophore are described which integrate a thiourea binding motif and a polymerizable 2-aminoethyl methacrylate unit in the 4,7-positions of the BD core. Concerted charge transfer in this electron donor-acceptor-donor architecture endows the dyes with strongly Stokes shifted (up to >250 nm) absorption and fluorescence. Binding of electron-rich carboxylate guests at the thiourea receptor leads to further analyte-induced red-shifts of the emission, shifting the fluorescence maximum of the complexes to ≥700 nm. Association constants for acetate are ranging from 1–5×105 M−1 in acetonitrile. Integration of one of the fluorescent probes through its polymerizable moiety into molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) grafted from the surface of submicron silica cores yielded fluorescent MIP-coated particle probes for the selective detection of antibiotics containing aliphatic carboxylate groups such as enoxacin (ENOX) at micromolar concentrations in highly polar solvents like acetonitrile.
Herein, we report three crystals of styryl quinoline derivatives. All these three crystals are mechanically flexible crystals, isostructural and also all of them comply with the common underlying features for elas- tic flexibility like absence of slip plane, criss-cross packing arrangement of neighbouring tapes, presence of weak and dispersive interactions such as halogen bonds, hydrogen bonds etc. The interactions facilitate easy movement of molecules under application of pressure thereby imparting elasticity. Further, the crys- tals were found to be blue light emitting making them promising candidates for optical waveguides. The optical properties were combined with flexibility by using crystal engineering approach towards achiev- ing various applications such as flexible OLEDs, optical waveguides, flexible optoelectronics etc.
Functionalized nanomaterials (NM) with their unique size-dependent properties are of increasing relevance for current and future developments in various fields such as medical and pharmaceutical industry, computing, electronics or food and consumer products. The performance and safety of NM are determined by the sum of their intrinsic physicochemical properties.1 Besides other key parameters, the particle surface chemistry, which is largely controlled by the chemical nature and density of functional groups and ligands, must be considered for a better performance, stability, and processibility of NM, as well as their interaction with the environment. Thus, particle standards with well-designed surfaces and methods for functional group quantification can foster the sustainable development of functional and safe(r) NM.2 Here we provide a brief overview of the ongoing research in division Biophotonics to design tailored amorphous silica reference particles with bioanalytically relevant functional groups and ligands, for the development of standardized and validated surface functional group quantification methods.
In recent years, the demand for reliable, versatile, fluorescent pH and oxygen sensors has increased rapidly in many biomedical applications since these analytes are important indicators of cell function or certain diseases. Therefore, sensor particles are needed that are small enough to penetrate cells, non-toxic, and allow for close-up optical monitoring. When developing such sensor systems, one must consider the pH and oxygen range detectable by the sensor dye and the matrix material of the used carrier particles. Here, we present the development of pH- and oxygen-responsive polymeric beads functionalized with fluorescent dyad molecules that consist of an analyte-responsive fluorophore and an analyte-inert dye.
Surface functionalized silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NP) gained great interest in the life and material sciences, as they can be used e.g. as drug carriers, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in bioanalytical assays and imaging applications. They are highly stable, are easily produced and modified on a large scale at low cost and can be labeled or stained with a multitude of sensor dyes. These dye modified particle conjugates have several advantages as compared to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, ease of designing ratiometric systems by combining analyte-sensitive and inert reference dyes, and increased photostability. Moreover, stained nanoparticles can enable the use of hydrophobic dyes in aqueous environments.
Here we present our work on multicolored sensors for the measurement of pH, oxygen and saccharides utilizing amorphous SiO2 NPs.
This contribution reports the development of a polymerizable BODIPY-type fluorescent probe targeting small-molecule carboxylates for incorporation into molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The design of the probe crosslinker includes a urea recognition site p-conjugated to the 3-position of the BODIPY core and two methacrylate moieties. Titration experiments with a carboxylate-expressing antibiotic, levofloxacin (LEVO), showed a blue shift of the absorption band as well as a broadening and decrease in emission, attributed to hydrogen bonding between the probe’s urea group and the carboxylate group of the antibiotic. Using this probe crosslinker, core–shell particles with a silica core and a thin MIP shell were prepared for the detection of LEVO. The MIP exhibited highly selective recognition of LEVO, with an imprinting factor of 18.1 compared to the non-imprinted polymer. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the core–shell structure and spectroscopic studies revealed that the receptor’s positioning leads to a unique perturbation of the polymethinic character of the BODIPY chromophore, entailing the favourable responses. These features are fully preserved in the MIP, whereas no such response was observed for competitors such as ampicillin. The sensory particles allowed to detect LEVO down to submicromolar concentrations in dioxane. We have developed here for the first time a BODIPY probe for organic carboxylates and incorporated it into polymers using the imprinting technique, paving the way for BODIPY-type fluorescent MIP sensors.
A new “green” and mild synthesis of highly stable microcrystalline Cs2AgxNa1-xBiyIn1-yCl6 (CANBIC) perovskites under ambient conditions was developed that is scalable to the multi-gram production. Under UV illumination, the CANBIC perovskites emit intense broadband photoluminescence (PL) with a quantum yield (QY) of 92% observed for x = 0.35 and y = 0.01-0.02. The combination of strong UV absorbance and broadband visible emission, high PL QY, and long PL lifetimes of up to 1.4 μs, along with an outstanding stability makes these CANBICs a promising material class for many optical applications.
A first tricolor fluorescent pH nanosensor is presented, which was rationally designed from biocompatible carboxylated polystyrene nanoparticles and two analyte-responsive molecular fluorophores. Its fabrication involved particle staining with a blue-red-emissive dyad, consisting of a rhodamine moiety responsive to acidic pH values and a pH-inert quinoline fluorophore, followed by the covalent attachment of a fluorescein dye to the particle surface that signals neutral and basic pH values with a green fluorescence. These sensor particles change their fluorescence from blue to red and green, depending on the pH and excitation wavelength, and enable ratiometric pH measurements in the pH range of 3.0−9.0. The localization of the different sensor dyes in the particle core and at the particle surface was confirmed with fluorescence microscopy utilizing analogously prepared polystyrene microparticles. To show the application potential of these polystyrene-based multicolor sensor particles, fluorescence microscopy studies with a human A549 cell line were performed, which revealed the cellular uptake of the pH nanosensor and the differently colored emissions in different cell organelles, that is, compartments of the endosomal-lysosomal pathway. Our results demonstrate the underexplored potential of biocompatible polystyrene particles for multicolor and multianalyte sensing and bioimaging utilizing hydrophobic and/or hydrophilic stimuli-responsive luminophores.
pH presents one of the most important analytes in the life and material sciences, indicating, e.g., diseases and corrosion processes. This includes the optical monitoring of pH in living cells for studying cellular internalization pathways, such as phagocytosis, endocytosis, and receptor mediated internalization with the aid of molecular and nanoscale fluorescent sensors. Nanoparticle (NP)-based sensors, that are labelled or stained with a multitude of sensor dyes, have several advantages as compared to conventional molecular probes like enhanced brightness, i.e., amplified signals, ease of designing ratiometric systems by combining analyte-sensitive and inert reference dyes, and increased photostability. Moreover, this can enable the use of hydrophobic dyes in aqueous environments. Versatile templates and carriers for the fabrication of nanosensors by staining and/or labelling with different fluorophores and sensor molecules are surface-functionalized particles like silica (SiO2) and polystyrene (PS) particles. Here we present a platform of blue-red-green fluorescent pH nanosensors for the measurement of acidic, neutral, and basic pH utilizing both types of matrices and two spectrally distinguishable sensor dyes with an integrated reference dye and demonstrate its applicability for cellular studies.
Surface-functionalized polymer beads encoded with molecular luminophores and nanocrystalline emitters such as semiconductor nanocrystals, often referred to as quantum dots (QDs), or magnetic nanoparticles are broadly used in the life sciences as reporters and carrier beads. Many of these applications require a profound knowledge of the chemical nature and total number of their surface functional groups (FGs), that control bead charge, colloidal stability, hydrophobicity, and the interaction with the environment and biological systems. For bioanalytical applications, also the number of groups accessible for the subsequent functionalization with, e.g., biomolecules or targeting ligands is relevant. In this study, we explore the influence of QD encoding on the amount of carboxylic acid (COOH) surface FGs of 2 μm polystyrene microparticles (PSMPs). This is done for frequently employed oleic acid and oleylamine stabilized, luminescent core/shell CdSe QDs and two commonly used encoding procedures. This included QD addition during bead formation by a thermally induced polymerization reaction and a post synthetic swelling procedure. The accessible number of COOH groups on the surface of QD-encoded and pristine beads was quantified by two colorimetric assays, utilizing differently sized reporters and electrostatic and covalent interactions. The results were compared to the total number of FGs obtained by a conductometric titration and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition, a comparison of the impact of QD and dye encoding on the bead surface chemistry was performed. Our results demonstrate the influence of QD encoding and the QD-encoding strategy on the number of surface FG that is ascribed to an interaction of the QDs with the carboxylic acid groups on the bead surface. These findings are of considerable relevance for applications of nanoparticle-encoded beads and safe-by-design concepts for nanomaterials.