Near-Infrared Polymer Dots with Aggregation-Induced Emission for Tumor Imaging
Abstract
Semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) have been applied in various biological fields owing to their tunable fluorescence, high brightness, and facile functionalization. However, most Pdots emit in the visible region, wherein fluorescence imaging would suffer from significant photon scattering and autofluorescence in biological tissues. Furthermore, Pdots typically exhibit a reduced fluorescence compared to the corresponding original polymers in organic solvents as a result of aggregation-caused quenching effect. These drawbacks make it difficult to develop Pdots that exhibit bright emission in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range. Herein, based on an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) polymer, we report Pdots exhibiting NIR emission along with high fluorescence quantum yield. After fabricating the AIE polymer into Pdots, the fluorescence intensity was enhanced by 2.5-times, yielding NIR emission with a quantum yield of ∼23%. The Pdots also possess outstanding optical properties and biocompatibility, making them a promising imaging agent for in vivo tumor targeting. When the Pdots were used for imaging, the tumor area displayed an intense fluorescence signal and clearly discernible margins, revealing the remarkable potential of the AIE Pdots in bioimaging.
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PBT demonstrated a remarkable increase in Φfl from 9% to 23% upon Pdot formation.
“PBT demonstrated a remarkable increase in Φfl from 9% to 23% upon the Pdot formation.”
From The Pursuit of Shortwave Infrared-Emitting Nanoparticles with Bright Fluorescence through Molecular Design and Excited-State Engineering of Molecular Aggregates (2022) · cites this paper as [187]
PTBT displayed an intense ACQ, resulting in a drop of Φfl from 15% to 9% upon Pdots formation.
“PTBT displayed an intense ACQ, resulting in a drop of Φfl from 15% to 9% upon the Pdots formation.”
From The Pursuit of Shortwave Infrared-Emitting Nanoparticles with Bright Fluorescence through Molecular Design and Excited-State Engineering of Molecular Aggregates (2022) · cites this paper as [187]
PHTBT showed a reduced ACQ effect due to an extra alkyl chain attached at thiophene that weakens interchain interactions in the Pdots (Φfl changed from 10% to 12% upon Pdots formation).
“PHTBT showed a reduced ACQ effect due to an extra alkyl chain attached at thiophene that weakens interchain interactions in the Pdots (Φfl changed from 10% to 12% upon the Pdots formation).”
From The Pursuit of Shortwave Infrared-Emitting Nanoparticles with Bright Fluorescence through Molecular Design and Excited-State Engineering of Molecular Aggregates (2022) · cites this paper as [187]
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- Authors
- Zhang, Z., Chen, D., Liu, Z., Wang, D., Guo, J., Zheng, J., Qin, W., & Wu, C.
- Affiliations
- Jilin University (CN)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Wu, Changfeng
- Venue
- ACS Applied Polymer Materials
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2019-12-20
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 74-79
- ISSN
- 2637-6105 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2994888254
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- ACS Applied Polymer Materials (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (JCYJ20170307110157501)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81771930)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Quantum Dots Synthesis And Properties
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Carbon and Quantum Dots Applications
- Keywords
- polymer dots, aggregation-induced emission, near-infrared fluorescence, tumor imaging, aggregation-caused quenching, fluorescence quantum yield enhancement, biocompatibility, bioimaging agents
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