Deep‐penetration fluorescence imaging in the second near‐infrared (NIR‐II) window heralds a new era of clinical surgery, in which high‐resolution vascular/lymphatic anatomy and detailed cancerous tissues can be visualized in real time. Described here is a series of polymethine‐based semiconducting polymers with intrinsic emission maxima in the NIR‐IIa (1300–1400 nm) window and absorption maxima ranging from 1082 to 1290 nm. These polymers were prepared as semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) in aqueous solutions with fluorescence quantum yields of 0.05–0.18 %, and they demonstrate promising applications in noninvasive through‐skull brain imaging in live mice with remarkable spatial resolution as well as signal‐to‐background contrast. This study offers a platform for future design of NIR‐IIa or even NIR‐IIb emitting Pdots.
There have been enormous efforts for developing the next
generations
of fluorometric lateral flow immunochromatographic strip (ICTS) owing
to the great advances in fluorescent materials in these years. Here
we developed one type of fluorometric ICTS based on ultrabright semiconducting
polymer dots (Pdots) in which the traffic light-like signals were
created by energy transfer depending on the target concentration.
This platform was successfully applied for qualitatively rapid screening
and quantitatively precise analysis of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)
in 10 min from merely one drop of the whole blood sample. This FRET-created
traffic light ICTS possesses excellent specificity and an outstanding
detection sensitivity of 0.32 ng/mL for PSA. Moreover, we conducted
proof-of-concept experiments to demonstrate its potential for multiplexed
detection of cancer biomarkers at the same time in an individual test
strip by taking advantage of the traffic light signals. To the best
of our knowledge, it is the first model of a traffic light-like immunoassay
test strip based on Pdots with multiplexing ability. These results
would pave an avenue for designing the next generation of point-of-care
diagnostics.
Photolithographically generated patterns have been created on immobilized CdSe QD thin films by fine-tuning their optical properties (intensity and emission wavelength) postsynthetically. These optically modified QDs show enhanced selectivity for binding of different ligands, affording the ability to fabricate optically reconfigurable surfaces for display or sensing applications. The patterns may be readily generated with any typical optical lithographic approach.
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