Zhao Jie, Pan Xiangqiang, Zhu Jian, Zhu Xiulin
State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
Global Institute of Software Technology, Suzhou 215163, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2020 Mar 3;12(3):551. doi: 10.3390/polym12030551.
Stimuli-responsive functional gels have shown significant potential for application in biosensing and drug release systems. In this study, aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen)-functionalized, diselenide-crosslinked polymer gels were synthesized via free radical copolymerization. A series of polymer gels with different crosslink densities or tetraphenylethylene (TPE) contents were synthesized. The diselenide crosslinker in the gels could be fragmented in the presence of HO or dithiothreitol (DTT) due to its redox-responsive property. Thus, the TPE-containing polymer chains were released into the aqueous solution. As a result, the aqueous solution exhibited enhanced fluorescence emission due to the strong hydrophobicity of TPE. The degradation of polymer gels and fluorescence enhancement in an aqueous solution under different HO or DTT concentrations were studied. Furthermore, the polymer gels could be used as drug carriers, suggesting a visual drug release process under the action of external redox agents. The AIEgen-functionalized, diselenide-crosslinked polymer gels hold great potential in the biomedical area for biosensing and controlled drug delivery.
刺激响应性功能凝胶在生物传感和药物释放系统中显示出巨大的应用潜力。在本研究中，通过自由基共聚合成了聚集诱导发光发光团（AIEgen）功能化的二硒化物交联聚合物凝胶。合成了一系列具有不同交联密度或四苯基乙烯（TPE）含量的聚合物凝胶。凝胶中的二硒化物交联剂由于其氧化还原响应特性，在HO或二硫苏糖醇（DTT）存在下会断裂。因此，含TPE的聚合物链被释放到水溶液中。结果，由于TPE的强疏水性，水溶液表现出增强的荧光发射。研究了不同HO或DTT浓度下聚合物凝胶的降解以及水溶液中的荧光增强。此外，聚合物凝胶可用作药物载体，表明在外部氧化还原试剂作用下有可视化的药物释放过程。AIEgen功能化的二硒化物交联聚合物凝胶在生物医学领域的生物传感和可控药物递送方面具有巨大潜力。
