Issue 9, 2021

Fluorescence activation, patterning and enhancement with photogenerated radicals, a prefluorescent probe and silver nanostructures

Abstract

We synthesized a dual fluorogenic system based on a boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dye coupled with a paramagnetic 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl (TEMPO) nitroxide. Electron exchange facilitates the non-radiative relaxation of the singlet state of the chromophore, partially quenching the fluorescence from the BODIPY moiety. Nonetheless, the system can be ‘activated’ in solution or thin polymer films by ultraviolet (UVA) light in the presence of a free radical initiator. UVA illumination promotes the decomposition of the initiator, resulting in the release of a carbon-centered free radical. The dye-TEMPO probe can concomitantly trap the radical or undergo H-abstraction. Both processes consequently turn on the fluorescence and are reversible in nature. We used this protocol to optically imprint a fluorescent pattern on a surface. Moreover, we investigated metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) effects by silver nanostructures (AgNP) as a means to improve the performance of our molecular strategy for fluorescence activation. Overall, this work contributes toward the development of improved nanoparticle–dye systems for applications of light-activated fluorescence such as multicolour fluorescence patterning and microscopy, where shorter reaction times, milder conditions, reversibility and a more diverse selection of both excitation sources and emission wavelengths are beneficial.

Graphical abstract: Fluorescence activation, patterning and enhancement with photogenerated radicals, a prefluorescent probe and silver nanostructures

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Nov 2020
Accepted
20 Jan 2021
First published
28 Jan 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2021,11, 5163-5171

Fluorescence activation, patterning and enhancement with photogenerated radicals, a prefluorescent probe and silver nanostructures

K. P. Golian, A. S. Akari, G. K. Hodgson and S. Impellizzeri, RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 5163 DOI: 10.1039/D0RA09565F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements