Fluorogens with aggregation induced emission: Ideal photoacoustic contrast reagents due to intramolecular rotation

Junlong Geng, Lun De Liao, Wei Qin, Ben Zhong Tang, Nitish Thakor, Bin Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Exogenous contrast agents with high sensitivity are highly desirable for photoacoustic (PA) imaging. In this work, we show that fluorogens with aggregation induced emission (AIE) characteristics are born with strong PA signals. In addition, we find that the PA signal of conventional fluorophores could be significantly enhanced through conjugation with tetraphenylethene (TPE), an iconic AIE fluorogen. Taking 2,3-bis[4-(diphenylamino)phenyl]fumaronitrile (TPAFN) as an example, conjugation between TPAFN and TPE affords 2,3-bis(4-(phenyl(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenyl)amino)phenyl) fumaroni-trile (TPETPAFN), a molecule with significant AIE characteristics, which shows 170% higher PA signals as compared to that of TPAFN. The higher PA signal of TPETPAFN is mainly ascribed to the enhanced molecular rotation, which is beneficial to its thermal expansion upon light absorption. Moreover, the significantly reduced PA signals for TPETPAFN in solvents with high viscosity or as nanoparticles further highlight the contribution of molecular rotation on PA signals.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1864-1868
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Volume15
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2015

Keywords

  • Aggregation induced emission
  • Molecular rotation
  • Photoacoustic imaging
  • Quantum yield

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Bioengineering
  • General Chemistry
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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