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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.
In recent years, chromium (III) complexes have received a lot of attention as novel near-infrared (NIR) emitters triggered by the report on the first molecular ruby Cr(ddpd)2(BF4)3 with a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 13.7% of its near infrared (NIR) emission band and a long luminescence lifetime of 1.122 ms at room temperature.[1] However, in an oxygen-containing environment, the photoluminescence quantum yields and luminescence lifetimes of these chromium(III) complexes show only very small values. This hampers their application as NIR luminescence labels. This application, that cannot be tackled by conventional deoxygenating approaches, requires suitable strategies to protect the luminescence of the chromium(III) complexes from oxygen quenching. An elegant approach to reduce the undesired luminescence quenching by triplet oxygen explored by us presents the incorporation of these chromium(III) complexes into different types of amorphous, non-porous silica nanoparticles, that can be simply surface functionalized, e.g., with targeting ligands and/or other sensor molecules. In this work, as first proof-of-concept experiments, a set of chromium (III) complexes constituting of different ligands and counter anions, were embedded into the core of silica nanoparticles. Subsequently, the optical properties of the resulting luminescent silica nanoparticles were spectroscopically assessed by steady state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. First results of time-resolved luminescence measurements confirm our design concept of nanoscale NIR emissive Cr(III) complex-based reporters
Engineered and tailored nanomaterials (NM) are of great interest in the life and material sciences, as they can be used, e.g., as drug carriers, barcodes, fluorescent sensors, and multimodal labels in bioanalytical assays and imaging applications. Their performance and safety depend not only on their particle size, size distribution, and morphology, but also on their surface chemistry, i.e., the total number of surface functional groups (FG) and the number of FG accessible for subsequent functionalization with ligands or biomolecules, which in turn determines surface charge, colloidal stability, biocompatibility, and toxicity. It also underlines the importance of validated analytical methods that provide accurate information on these application-relevant physicochemical properties with a known uncertainty. In the case of FG quantification, this calls for robust, fast, inexpensive, and reliable methods which allow for the characterization of a broad variety of NM differing in size, chemical composition, and optical properties.
Methods
Aiming at the development of simple, versatile, and multimodal tools for the quantification of bioanalytically relevant FG such as amine, carboxy, thiol, and aldehyde functionalities, we investigated and compared various analytical methods commonly used for FG quantification. This includes electrochemical titration methods, dye-based optical assays, and other instrumental analytical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry (MS), and thermal analysis methods.
Results
Here, we will present examples for different types of NMs and FGs including results from a currently running interlaboratory comparison (ILC) with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to pave the road for method standardization.
Innovative aspects
• Surface analysis
• Performance and safety of nanomaterials
• Standardization
In the focus of division Biophotonics are the design, preparation, analytical and spectroscopic characterization, and application of molecular and nanoscale
functional materials, particularly materials with a photoluminescence in the visible, near infrared (NIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR). This includes optical reporters for bioimaging and sensing, security and authentication barcodes, and materials for solid state lighting, energy conversion, and photovoltaics. For the identification of optimum particle structures quantitative spectroscopic studies are performed under application-relevant conditions, focusing on the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield. In addition, simple, cost-efficient, and standardizable strategies for quantifying functional groups on the surface of nano- and microparticles are developed, here with a focus on optical assays and electrochemical titration methods, cross-validated by more advanced methods such as quantitative NMR. In addition, reference materials and reference products are developed for optical methods, particularly luminescence techniques, and for analytical methods utilized for the characterization of nanomaterials.
Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Luminescent Nanocrystals and Particles in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR
(2023)
The rational design of functional luminescent materials such as semiconductor quantum dots and lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles, all photophysical and mechanistic studies, and the comparison of different emitters require accurate and quantitative photoluminescence measurements. Particularly the reliable determination of the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield (f), the number of emitted per absorbed photons, and the brightness are of special importance for luminescence applications in the life and material sciences and nano(bio)photonics.[1] In this context, examples for absolute measurements of the photoluminescence quantum yields of UV/vis/NIR/SWIR emissive semiconductor quantum dots and rods, made from different materials, and spectrally shifting lanthanide upconversion nanocrystals with different surface chemistries in transparent matrices are presented including excitation wavelength and power density dependent studies utilizing integration sphere spectroscopy.[2,3] In addition, procedures for the absolute determination of the photoluminescence quantum yields of scattering dispersions of larger size quantum rods and differently sized inorganic particles have been developed as well as procedures for the characterization of solid luminescent nanomaterials such as different perovskites and YAG:Cer converter materials.[4] Thereby, challenges and pitfalls of f measurements in different wavelength regions including the SWIR and material-specific effects related to certain emitter classes are addressed, achievable uncertainties are quantified, and relative and absolute measurements of photoluminescence quantum yield measurements are compared to underline limitations of the former approach. Finally, a set of novel UV/vis/NIR quantum yield standards is presented including their certification with a complete uncertainty budget.[5]
pH and oxygen are amongst the most important and frequently measured 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 ligand internalization with the aid of molecular and nanoscale fluorescent sensors. Nanoparticle (NP)-based sensors, that are labeled or stained with a multitude of sensor dyes, have several advantages as compare 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 the staining and/or labelling with different fluorophores and sensor molecules or surface functionalized NP like silica (SiO2-NP) and polystyrene (PS-NP) particles provide. Here we present the design of a versatile platform of color emissive nanosensors and stimuli-responsive microparticles for the measurement of pH, oxygen, and other targets utilizing both types of matrices and sets of spectrally distinguishable sensor and reference dyes and their characterization and demonstrate the applicability of representative sensor particle for cellular studies.
The surface chemistry of nanomaterials controls their interaction with the environment and biological species and their fate and is hence also relevant for their potential toxicity. This has meanwhile led to an increasing interest in validated and preferably standardized methods for the determination and quantification of surface functionalities on nanomaterials and initiated different standardization projects within ISO/TC 229 and IEC/TC 113 as well as interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) of different analytical methods for the quantification of surface coatings by OECD. Here we present the results of a first ILC on the quantification of the amount of amino functionalities on differently sized inorganic nanoparticles done by division Biophotonics and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the PWI 19257 on the Characterization and Quantification of Surface Functional Groups and Coatings on Nanoobjects approved by ISO/TC 229 (WG2) in fall 2022 that will result in a VAMAS study on this topic organized by division Biophotonics. Key words: nanoparticles, surface analysis, surface functional groups, quantification, optical assay, qNMR, VAMAS, standardization, ICL, quality assurance, reference material.
Inorganic nanocrystals with linear and nonlinear luminescence in the ultraviolet, visible, near infrared and short-wave infrared like semiconductor quantum dots and spectrally shifting lanthanide-based nanophosphors have meanwhile found applications in the life and material sciences ranging from optical reporters for bioimaging and sensing over security barcodes to solid state lighting and photovoltaics. These nanomaterials commonly have increasingly sophisticated core/shell particle architectures with shells of different chemical composition and thickness to minimize radiationless deactivation at the particle surface that is usually the main energy loss mechanism [1]. For lanthanide-based spectral shifters, particularly for very small nanoparticles, also surface coatings are needed which protect near-surface lanthanide ions from luminescence quenching by high energy vibrators like O-H groups and prevent the disintegration of these nanoparticles under high dilution conditions. [2,3,4]. The identification of optimum particle structures requires quantitative spectroscopic studies focusing on the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield [5,6], ideally flanked by single particle studies to assess spectroscopic inhomogeneities on a particle-to-particle level for typical preparation methods [7,8], Moreover, in the case of upconversion nanoparticles with a multi-photonic and hence, excitation power density (P)-dependent luminescence, quantitative luminescence studies over a broad P range are required to identify particle architectures that are best suited for applications in fluorescence assays up to fluorescence microscopy. Here, we present methods to quantify the photoluminescence of these different types of emitters in the vis/NIR/SWIR and as function of P and demonstrate the importance of such measurements for a profound mechanistic understanding of the nonradiative deactivation pathways in semiconductor and upconversion nanocrystals of different size and particle architecture in different environments.