Engineering of Nanoparticles for Luminescence Switching

• Main Author: Impellizzeri, Stefania
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarly Repository 2012
• Subjects: Fluorescence; photoswitchable probes; super-resolution microscopy; bio-imaging; photochromic compounds; luminescence switching
• Online Access: http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/708

Fluorescence microscopy offers the opportunity to image biological samples noninvasively in real time and has become an essential analytical tool in the biomedical laboratory. Nonetheless, the phenomenon of diffraction imposes stringent limitations on the resolving power of conventional microscopes, preventing the spatial resolution of fluorescent species co-localized within areas of nanoscaled dimensions. Time, however, can be exploited to distinguish fluorophores within the same subdiffraction area, if their fluorescence can be switched independently, and reconstruct sequentially their spatial distribution. In this context, photolytic reactions and photochromic transformations can be invoked to switch fluorescence under optical control. Fluorescent units, such as inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles and organic dyes, and photoactive components can be operated within a common supramolecular matrix or integrated within the same molecular construct to produce photoswitchable fluorescent assemblies. In the resulting systems, electronic communication between the components can be designed in order to photoactivate or photodeactivate fluorescence respectively. Both mechanisms can be exploited to overcome diffraction, and ultimately permit the reconstruction of images with resolution down to the nanometer level, in combination with appropriate illumination protocols.