Paisley Nathan R, Tonge Christopher M, Hudson Zachary M
Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Front Chem. 2020 Apr 9;8:229. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2020.00229. eCollection 2020.
Though molecules exhibiting thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) have seen extensive development in organic light-emitting diodes, their incorporation into polymer nanomaterials and thin films has led to a range of applications in sensing and imaging probes. Triplet quenching can be used to probe oxygen concentration, and the reverse intersystem crossing mechanism which gives rise to TADF can also be used to measure temperature. Moreover, the long emission lifetimes of TADF materials allows for noise reduction in time-gated microscopy, making these compounds ideal for time-resolved fluorescence imaging (TRFI). A polymer matrix enables control over energy transfer between molecules, and can be used to modulate TADF behavior, solubility, biocompatibility, or desirable mechanical properties. Additionally, a polymer's oxygen permeability can be tuned to suit imaging applications in a range of media. Here we review the applications of polymer nanoparticles and films exhibiting TADF in sensing and imaging, demonstrating that this class of materials has great potential beyond electroluminescent devices still waiting to be explored.
尽管表现出热激活延迟荧光（TADF）的分子在有机发光二极管中已得到广泛发展，但将它们掺入聚合物纳米材料和薄膜中已在传感和成像探针方面带来了一系列应用。三线态猝灭可用于探测氧气浓度，而产生TADF的反向系间窜越机制也可用于测量温度。此外，TADF材料的长发射寿命使得时间门控显微镜中的噪声得以降低，使这些化合物成为时间分辨荧光成像（TRFI）的理想选择。聚合物基质能够控制分子间的能量转移，并可用于调节TADF行为、溶解度、生物相容性或所需的机械性能。此外，聚合物的氧气渗透性可以进行调整，以适应在一系列介质中的成像应用。在此，我们综述了表现出TADF的聚合物纳米颗粒和薄膜在传感和成像方面的应用，表明这类材料在电致发光器件之外仍具有巨大的待探索潜力。
