EAGER: Novel family of cellulose acetate fluorescent nanoparticles for bio imaging applications

纤维素是地球上最丰富的生物相容性材料之一。醋酸纤维素、粘胶纤维或人造丝是技术上最发达和最具特征的纤维素衍生物，对人类完全无害。虽然已经从醋酸纤维素（CA）开发了各种光学材料，但是由这种纤维素衍生物制成的光学纳米材料是不存在的。该计划涉及开发第一个由醋酸纤维素（CA）制成的荧光纳米颗粒和纳米纤维，这将使它们在生物医学应用中具有潜在的变革性。该项目将研究CA的纳米光学特性，然后评估它们作为生物光子应用的标签和传感器的潜力。最初的工作表明，存在的供体-受体之间的耦合封装的染料。疏水性荧光染料的微胶囊化具有优异的光稳定性等优点。这些功能表明，一个新的平台，开发一个完整的家庭的荧光纳米粒子和纳米传感器的生物医学应用的潜力。显然需要解决关键的探索性问题，以降低这种变革性方法的高风险。例如，尚未研究CA纳米颗粒内部的包封染料的光子性质。荧光和功能分子在颗粒合成中的作用尚不清楚。这些问题和其他问题将在项目中得到解决。

Cellulose is one of the most abundant biocompatible materials on earth. Cellulose acetate, viscose, or artificial silk are the most technologically developed and well-characterized derivatives of cellulose, which is completely benign to humans. While various optical materials have been developed from cellulose acetate (CA), optical nanomaterials made of this cellulose derivative are nonexistent. This proposal deals with the development of the first fluorescent nanoparticles and nanofibers made of cellulose acetate (CA), that would make them potentially transformative for biomedical applications.The project will study CA nano-optical properties then evaluate their potential as labels and sensors for biophotonic applications. Initial work demonstrated the presence of donor-acceptor coupling between encapsulated dyes. Encapsulating hydrophobic fluorescent dyes have many advantages such as exceptional photostability. These features suggest the potential of a new platform for developing a whole family of fluorescent nanoparticles and nanosensors for biomedical applications. There is a clear need to address key exploratory questions to reduce the high risk of this transformative approach. For example, photonic properties of encapsulated dyes inside of CA nanoparticles has not been studied. The role of fluorescent and functional molecules in the particle synthesis is unclear. These questions and others will be addressed in the project.