Singlet Oxygen-Responsive Fluorescent Nanomaterials

该项目由国家科学基金会化学部化学测量和成像计划资助。塔夫茨大学的塞缪尔·托马斯和查尔斯·梅斯教授与犹他大学的拉杰什·梅农教授正在开发几种新型的发光纳米材料，这种材料可以对单线态氧分子做出反应。单线态氧是光驱动过程中的一个重要分子，如光动力疗法和过度暴露在阳光下对植物的伤害。这项研究的一个重要成果是改进了单线态氧的检测。这项研究的另一个重要成果是更好地从根本上了解了荧光纳米材料的组成如何影响其发光性能和检测性能。这对发光纳米材料的其他应用具有重要意义。这项工作的更广泛影响包括提高了荧光纳米材料分析测量的性能和可靠性，以及通过同行领导的团队学习(PLTL)试点改善了塔夫茨大学有机化学课程学生的主动学习。这项建议的目标是了解不同荧光纳米材料的组成如何影响他们对单线态氧的反应，并对关键特性进行普遍适用的比较，如能量转移效率，以及对尚未解决的单线态氧传感和成像问题的改进。这项建议的目标是：1)制备和表征三类水分散的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，和iii)嵌段共聚聚合物胶束，以及2)与塔夫茨大学和犹他大学的PI合作，确定这些纳米材料的类别和组成如何影响性能：i)单线态氧检测，ii)在生物分析中使用单线态氧作为二次分析物，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.