Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles for Bioimaging Applications

Abstract

Conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CP NPs) have emerged as an attractive fluorescent probe in bioimaging as well as other biological applications due to their large absorption coefficient, high brightness, good photostability and low cytotoxicity, which are even superior to the conventional fluorescent probes (e.g. organic dyes and quantum dots). Currently, CP NPs have been mainly fabricated through emulsion method and precipitation approach. In this contribution, several strategies have been developed to synthesize CP NPs through cross-linking, silica protection, polymer/silica co-protection strategies, which show improved performance in stability, brightness and photostability. On the other hand, CP NPs with strong near-infrared absorbance and high non-radiative fluorescence quantum yield have also been designed for photoacoustic imaging, broadening the applications of CP NPs in bioimaging.