Giovannini Giorgia, Rossi René M, Boesel Luciano F
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2021 Jan 14;11(1):197. doi: 10.3390/nano11010197.
The development of hybrid materials with unique optical properties has been a challenge for the creation of high-performance composites. The improved photophysical and photochemical properties observed when fluorophores interact with clay minerals, as well as the accessibility and easy handling of such natural materials, make these nanocomposites attractive for designing novel optical hybrid materials. Here, we present a method of promoting this interaction by conjugating dyes with chitosan. The fluorescent properties of conjugated dye-montmorillonite (MMT) hybrids were similar to those of free dye-MMT hybrids. Moreover, we analyzed the relationship between the changes in optical properties of the dye interacting with clay and its structure and defined the physical and chemical mechanisms that take place upon dye-MMT interactions leading to the optical changes. Conjugation to chitosan additionally ensures stable adsorption on clay nanoplatelets due to the strong electrostatic interaction between chitosan and clay. This work thus provides a method to facilitate the design of solid-state hybrid nanomaterials relevant for potential applications in bioimaging, sensing and optical purposes.
开发具有独特光学性质的杂化材料一直是制备高性能复合材料面临的一项挑战。当荧光团与粘土矿物相互作用时所观察到的光物理和光化学性质的改善，以及此类天然材料的可及性和易于处理性，使得这些纳米复合材料对于设计新型光学杂化材料具有吸引力。在此，我们提出一种通过将染料与壳聚糖共轭来促进这种相互作用的方法。共轭染料-蒙脱石（MMT）杂化物的荧光性质与游离染料-MMT杂化物的荧光性质相似。此外，我们分析了与粘土相互作用的染料光学性质变化与其结构之间的关系，并确定了染料与MMT相互作用导致光学变化时发生的物理和化学机制。由于壳聚糖与粘土之间存在强烈的静电相互作用，与壳聚糖共轭还可确保在粘土纳米片上的稳定吸附。因此，这项工作提供了一种方法，便于设计与生物成像、传感和光学用途潜在应用相关的固态杂化纳米材料。
