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Engineered nanomaterials (NM) with their large surface-to-volume ratios and their for some materials observed size-dependent functional properties are of increasing relevance for current and future developments in various fields such as medical and pharmaceutical industry, computing and electronics or food and consumer products. The performance and safety of NM are determined by the sum of their intrinsic physicochemical properties. Especially, the particle surface chemistry, which is largely controlled by the chemical nature and density of functional groups (FG) and ligands, is an important key driver for NM performance, stability, and processibility as well as the interaction of NM with the environment. Thus, methods for FG quantification can foster the sustainable development of functional and safe(r) NM.
Aiming at the development of simple, versatile, and multimodal tools for the quantification of many bioanalytically relevant FG and ligands, 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 and thermal analysis methods.
The potential of our multimodal approach for FG quantification was demonstrated for commercial and custom-made polymeric and silica particles of varying FG, used as optical pH sensors. In the future, our strategy can contribute to establish multi-method characterization strategies to provide a more detailed picture of the structure-properties relationship.
Nowadays amorphous silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NP) are one of the most abundant engineered nanomaterials, that are highly stable and can be easily produced on a large scale at low cost. Surface functionalized SiO2-NP are of 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. Their performance in such applications depends not only on particle size, size distribution, and morphology, but also on 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. Aiming at the development of simple, versatile, and multimodal tools for the quantification of many bioanalytically relevant FG and ligands, 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 and thermal analysis methods.
The potential of our multimodal approach for FG quantification was demonstrated for commercial and custom-made silica particles of varying FG, showing not only an influence of the synthesis methods on the number of FG but also on the performance. In the future, our strategy can contribute to establish multi-method characterization strategies to provide a more detailed picture of the structure-properties relationship.
Organic/inorganic mixtures were prepared from ordinary Portland cement (OPC), water (w/c 0.22), a fluorescent dye in aqueous solution (stable at alkaline pH; BAM-I), and two different comb shape polycarboxylates (PCEs), i.e., high charge (PCE-HC) and low charge (PCE-LC), respectively. Rheological and calorimetric measurements were performed prior to optical studies in order to select PCE concentrations. Absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy of the system OPC + BAM-I (CBAM-I) revealed maxima of dye BAM-I located at 645 nm and 663 nm, respectively. In presence of PCE-HC and PCE-LC, these mixtures displayed a small red shift in reflectance and a faster decrease in intensity compared to studies with CBAM-I; however, only slight differences were observed between the different PCEs. With time, all systems exhibited a decrease in intensity of BAM-I in absorption/reflectance and emission. This could be caused by dye adsorption and possibly decomposition when in contact with cement particles or hydration products.
Structural modularity of polymer frameworks is a key advantage of covalent organic polymers, however, only C, N, O, Si and S have found their way into their building blocks so far. Here, we expand the toolbox available to polymer and materials chemists by one additional nonmetal, phosphorus. Starting with a building block that contains a λ⁵‐phosphinine (C₅P) moiety, we evaluate a number of polymerisation protocols, finally obtaining a π‐conjugated, covalent phosphinine‐based framework (CPF‐1) via Suzuki‐Miyaura coupling. CPF‐1 is a weakly porous polymer glass (72.4 m2 g‐1 N2 BET at 77 K) with green fluorescence (λmax 546 nm) and extremely high thermal stability. The polymer catalyzes hydrogen evolution from water under UV and visible light irradiation without the need for additional co‐catalyst at a rate of 33.3 μmol h‐¹ g‐¹. Our results demonstrate for the first time the incorporation of the phosphinine motif into a complex polymer framework. Phosphinine‐based frameworks show promising electronic and optical properties that might spark future interest in their applications in light‐emitting devices and heterogeneous catalysis.
The fluorescence lifetime is a key property of fluorophores that can be utilized for microenvironment probing, analyte sensing, and multiplexing as well as barcoding applications. For the rational design of lifetime probes and barcodes, theoretical methods have been developed to enable the ab initio prediction of this parameter, which depends strongly on interactions with solvent molecules and other chemical species in the emitters' immediate environment. In this work, we investigate how a conductor-like screening model (COSMO) can account for variations in fluorescence lifetimes that are caused by such fluorophore−solvent interactions. Therefore, we calculate vibrationally broadened fluorescence spectra using the nuclear ensemble method to obtain distorted molecular geometries to sample the electronic transitions with time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The influence of the solvent on fluorescence lifetimes is accounted for with COSMO. For example, for 4-hydroxythiazole fluorophore containing different heteroatoms and acidic and basic moieties in aprotic and protic solvents of varying polarity, this approach was compared to experimentally determined lifetimes in the same solvents. Our results demonstrate a good correlation between theoretically predicted and experimentally measured fluorescence lifetimes except for the polar solvents Ethanol and acetonitrile that can specifically interact with the heteroatoms and the carboxylic acid of the thiazole derivative.
Absolute upconversion quantum yields of blue-emitting LiYF4:Yb3+,Tm3+ upconverting nanoparticles
(2018)
The upconversion quantum yield (QY) is an essential parameter for the characterization of the optical performance of lanthanoid-doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs). Despite its nonlinear dependence on excitation power density, it is typically reported only as a single number. Here, we present the first measurement of absolute upconversion quantum yields of the individual emission bands of blue light-emitting LiYF4:Yb3+,Tm3+ UCNPs in toluene. Reporting the quantum yields for the individual emission bands is required for assessing the usability of UCNPs in various applications that require upconverted light of different wavelengths, such as bioimaging, photocatalysis and phototherapy.
Here, the reliability of the QY measurements is demonstrated by studying the same batch of UCNPs in three different research groups. The results show that whereas the total upconversion quantum yield of these UCNPs is quite high - typically 0.02 at a power density of 5 W/cm2 — most of the upconverted photon flux is emitted in the 794 nm upconversion band, while the blue emission band at 480 nm is very weak, with a much lower quantum yield of 6 times 10^5 at 5 W/cm2. Overall, although the total upconversion quantum yield of LiYF4:Yb3+,Tm3+ UCNPs seems satisfying, notably for NIR bioimaging, blue-light demanding phototherapy applications will require better-performing UCNPs with higher blue light
upconversion quantum yields.
The rational synthesis and use of nanomaterials require the characterization of many different properties, ranging from particle size and size distribution over surface chemistry to more applicationrelevant features like optical, electrochemical, and magnetic properties. In the following, several methods for the characterization of functional groups on nanomaterials, like polymer and silica nanoparticles, semiconductor quantum dots, and lanthanide-based upconversion nanocrystals are presented. Additionally, procedures for the measurement of the key spectroscopic performance parameters of nanomaterials with linear and nonlinear photoluminescence, such as the photoluminescence quantum yield, are presented for the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR.
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.
Polyether and -ester urethanes (PU) were exposed to artificial weathering at 40 °C and artificial UV radiation in a weathering chamber. In 3 parallel exposures, humidity was varied between dry, humid, and wet conditions. Material alteration was investigated by various analytical techniques like size exclusion chromatography
(SEC), liquid chromatography-infrared spectroscopy (LC-FTIR), thermal-desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS), fluorescence mapping and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Our results show that depending on the weathering conditions, different degradation effects can be observed. By means of SEC an initial strong decrease of the molar masses and a broadening of the mass distributions was found. After a material dependent time span this was followed by a plateau where molar mass changes were less significant. A minor moisture-dependent degradation effect was only found for polyester PU. Fluorescence measurements on two materials revealed an increase in the luminescence intensity upon weathering process reaching a saturation level after about 500 h. The changes in the optical properties observed after different exposure conditions and times were very similar. The TD-GC-MS data showed the fate of the stabilizers and antioxidant in the course of weathering. LC-FTIR measurements revealed a change in peak intensities and the ratio of urethane and carbonyl bands.