Coumarin dye-embedded semiconducting polymer dots for ratiometric sensing of fluoride ions in aqueous solution and bio-imaging in cells.

This paper describes a simple platform that employs coumarin dye-encapsulated semiconducting polymer dots as a fluorescent probe for ratiometric and sensitive fluoride anion detection, in which the sensing mechanism is based on the deprotection of the tert-butyldimethylsilyl group on coumarin to induce Förster resonance energy transfer.