Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2019
Abstract
Remotely reporting the local environment within hydrogels using inexpensive laboratory techniques has excellent potential to improve our understanding of the nanometer-scale changes that cause macroscopic swelling or deswelling. Whilst photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy is a popular method for such studies this approach commonly requires bespoke and time-consuming synthesis to attach fluorophores which may leave toxic residues. A promising and more versatile alternative is to use a pre-formed nanogel probe that contains a donor/acceptor pair and then “dope” that into the gel during gel assembly. Here, we introduce green-emitting methacrylic acid-based nanogel probe particles and use them to report the local environment within four different gels as well as stem cells. As the swelling of the nanogel probe changes within the gels the non-radiative energy transfer efficiency is strongly altered. This efficiency change is sensitively reported using the PL ratiometric intensity from the donor and acceptor. We demonstrate that our new nanoprobes can reversibly report gel swelling changes due to five different environmental stimuli. The latter are divalent cations, gel degradation, pH changes, temperature changes and tensile strain. In the latter case, the nanoprobe rendered a nanocomposite gel mechanochromic. The results not only provide new structural insights for hierarchical natural and synthetic gels, but also demonstrate that our new green-fluorescing nanoprobes provide a viable alternative to custom fluorophore labelling for reporting the internal gel environment and its changes.
Recommended Citation
Zhu, M.; Lu, D.; Wu, S.; Lian, Q.; Wang, W.; Lyon, L. A.; Wang, W.; Bártolo, P.; Saunders, B. R. Using Green Emitting PH-Responsive Nanogels to Report Environmental Changes within Hydrogels: A Nanoprobe for Versatile Sensing. Nanoscale 2019, 11 (24), 11484–11495. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR00989B.
Supplementary Information
Copyright
Royal Society of Chemistry
Included in
Nanotechnology Commons, Other Chemical Engineering Commons, Other Chemistry Commons, Polymer Chemistry Commons, Polymer Science Commons
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Nanoscale, volume 11, issue 24, in 2019 following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR00989B.