Wei Zi-Jin, Yin Chang, Sun Mengjie, Long Kai, Zhang Zhouyu, Yan Zichao, Wang Wei, Yuan Zhi
Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Apr 24. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c00531.
Due to their unique afterglow ability, long-wavelength-light rechargeable persistent luminescence (PersL) nanoparticles (PLNPs) have been emerging as an important category of imaging probes. Among them, ZnGaO:0.6% Cr (ZGC) PLNPs have gained widespread recognition due to the ease of synthesis and uniform morphology. Unfortunately, the limited absorption arising from the low molar extinction coefficient of Cr results in relatively low afterglow intensity and rapid decay after long-wavelength LED light irradiation. Herein, we discovered a strategy that boosting dye-sensitization performance was able to effectively amplify the PersL signal under white LED light. Specifically, Dil served as a highly efficient sensitizer for Cr, promoting the absorption of the excitation light. By adjusting the Pr dopant concentrations, ZGCP PLNPs with optimal trap densities were obtained, which showed the highest PersL intensity and dye-sensitized performance. Strikingly, ZGCP-Dil PLNPs exhibited a 24.3-fold enhancement in intensity and a 2-fold prolongation of decay time over bare ZGC PLNPs through the synergy effect of optimal electron traps and dye sensitization. Photostable ZGCP-Dil PLNPs enabled imaging of the HepG2 tumor and effectively guided tumor surgical resection verified by the H&E staining analysis. This strategy could be a significant reference in other dye-sensitization PLNPs to enhance longer-wavelength rechargeable PersL.
由于其独特的余辉能力，长波长光可充电持续发光（PersL）纳米颗粒（PLNPs）已成为一类重要的成像探针。其中，ZnGaO:0.6% Cr（ZGC）PLNPs因其合成简便且形态均匀而获得广泛认可。不幸的是，由于Cr的低摩尔消光系数导致吸收有限，使得余辉强度相对较低，并且在长波长LED光照射后衰减迅速。在此，我们发现一种策略，即提高染料敏化性能能够在白色LED光下有效放大PersL信号。具体而言，Dil作为Cr的高效敏化剂，促进了激发光的吸收。通过调整Pr掺杂剂浓度，获得了具有最佳陷阱密度的ZGCP PLNPs，其显示出最高的PersL强度和染料敏化性能。引人注目的是，通过最佳电子陷阱和染料敏化的协同效应，ZGCP-Dil PLNPs的强度比裸ZGC PLNPs提高了24.3倍，衰减时间延长了2倍。光稳定的ZGCP-Dil PLNPs能够对HepG2肿瘤进行成像，并通过苏木精-伊红（H&E）染色分析有效地指导肿瘤手术切除。该策略可为其他染料敏化PLNPs增强长波长可充电PersL提供重要参考。
