Singlet Oxygen-Responsive Fluorescent Nanomaterials

本项目由美国国家科学基金化学分部化学测量与成像项目资助。塔夫茨大学的塞缪尔·托马斯教授和查尔斯·梅斯教授，以及犹他大学的拉杰什·梅农教授，正在开发几种新型的发光纳米材料，这些材料对分子单线态氧有反应。单线态氧是光动力治疗和植物过度暴露等光驱动过程中的重要分子。这项研究的一个重要成果是改进了单线态氧的检测。本研究的另一个重要成果是更好地了解荧光纳米材料的组成如何影响其发光特性和检测性能。这对发光纳米材料的其他应用很重要。这项工作的广泛影响包括提高荧光纳米材料分析测量的性能和可靠性带来的社会效益，以及通过同伴领导的团队学习（PLTL）试点改善塔夫茨大学有机化学课程学生的主动学习。本提案的目标是了解不同荧光纳米材料的组成如何影响它们对单线态氧的响应，并产生一般适用的关键特性（如能量传递效率）的比较，以及改进单线态氧传感和成像的未解决问题。本提案的目标是：1)制备并表征三类水分散单线态氧反应纳米材料的荧光光谱和能量转移特性。i)共轭聚合物纳米颗粒，ii)量子点，iii)嵌段共聚物胶束，以及2)在塔夫茨大学和犹他大学的pi之间的合作中，确定这些纳米材料的类别和组成如何影响以下方面的性能：i)单线态氧检测，ii)单线态氧作为生物测定中的二级分析物的使用，以及iii)光激活荧光。

This project is funded by the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program of the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation. Professors Samuel Thomas and Charles Mace of Tufts University, together with Professor Rajesh Menon of the University of Utah, are developing several new types of light-emitting nano-sized materials that respond to the molecule singlet oxygen. Singlet oxygen is an important molecule in light-driven processes such as photodynamic therapy and damage to plants upon overexposure to sunlight. One important outcome of this research is improved detection of singlet oxygen. Another important outcome of this research is better fundamental understanding of how the composition of fluorescent nano-sized materials affect their light emission properties and detection performance. This is important for other applications of light-emitting nano-sized materials. The broader impacts of this work include societal benefit from improved performance and reliability of analytical measurements involving fluorescent nanomaterials, and improved active learning of students in organic chemistry courses at Tufts University through a Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) pilot.The goal of this proposal is to understand how the compositions of different fluorescent nanomaterials influence their response to singlet oxygen and yield generally applicable comparisons of key characteristics such as energy transfer efficiency, as well as improvements to the unsolved problems of singlet oxygen sensing and imaging. The objectives of this proposal are: 1) Prepare and characterize the fluorescence spectroscopy and energy transfer characteristics of three classes of water-dispersible singlet oxygen-reactive nanomaterials?i) conjugated polymer nanoparticles, ii) quantum dots, and iii) block copolymer micelles, and 2) In collaboration between PIs at Tufts and University of Utah, determine how the classes and compositions of these nanomaterials affect performance in: i) singlet oxygen detection, ii) use of singlet oxygen as a secondary analyte in bioassays, and iii) photoactivated fluorescence.