CONJUGATED POLYMER AND PLASMON RESONANCE ENHANCED OPTICAL PROPERTIES FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract

TO DATE, THE PERFORMANCE OF CONTRAST AGENTS IN IN VIVO APPLICATIONS IS LIMITED BY LOW BRIGHTNESS, POOR STABILITY AND LACK OF PENETRATION DEPTH OF BOTH SIGNAL AND LIGHT SOURCE OF CONVENTIONAL DYES. TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, THIS STUDY AIMED TO ENHANCE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF DYE AND PHOTOSENSITIZER (PS) FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS. IN THIS STUDY, TWO POWERFUL STRATEGIES, F?RSTER RESONANCE ENERGY TRANSFER (FRET) AND METAL ENHANCED FLUORESCENCE (MEF), WERE UTILIZED TO ACHIEVE OPTICAL AMPLIFICATIONS. OWING TO A HIGHLY ENHANCED ELECTRIC FIELD IN THE GAP REGION OF COUPLED PLASMONIC STRUCTURES, A DISTANCE DEPENDENT MEF WAS INVESTIGATED IN VICINITY OF COUPLED GOLD AND SILVER NANOPARTICLES (NPS). AS FOR FRET MECHANISM, FLUORESCENCE ENHANCEMENT OF A FAR-RED EMITTING DYE UNDER 2-PHOTON EXCITATION (2PE) WAS ACHIEVED BY ENCAPSULATION INTO CONJUGATED POLYMER (CP) NPS, WHICH WERE SUCCESSFULLY USED IN IN VITRO IMAGING APPLICATION. MEANWHILE, RED-EMITTING CPS ENCAPSULATED WITH PS EXHIBITED ENHANCED 2-PHO