Issue 20, 2019

Disentangling optically activated delayed fluorescence and upconversion fluorescence in DNA stabilized silver nanoclusters

Abstract

Optically activated delayed fluorescence (OADF) is a powerful tool for generating background-free, anti-Stokes fluorescence microscopy modalities. Recent findings, using DNA-stabilized silver nanoclusters (DNA-AgNCs), indicate that OADF is usually accompanied by a dark state-mediated consecutive photon absorption process leading to upconversion fluorescence (UCF). In this study, we disentangle the OADF and UCF process by means of wavelength-dependent NIR excitation spectroscopy. We demonstrate that, by appropriate choice of secondary NIR excitation wavelength, the dark state population can be preferentially depleted through OADF, minimizing the UCF contribution. These findings show that dark state depletion by OADF might enable background-free STED-like nanoscopy.

Graphical abstract: Disentangling optically activated delayed fluorescence and upconversion fluorescence in DNA stabilized silver nanoclusters

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
19 Feb 2019
Accepted
23 Apr 2019
First published
24 Apr 2019
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 5326-5331

Disentangling optically activated delayed fluorescence and upconversion fluorescence in DNA stabilized silver nanoclusters

S. Krause, C. Cerretani and T. Vosch, Chem. Sci., 2019, 10, 5326 DOI: 10.1039/C9SC00865A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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