Enhancing the emission of polydiacetylene sensing materials through fluorophore addition and energy transfer

Enhancement of the environmentally responsive fluorescent properties of polydiacetylene (PDA) by combination with lipophilic fluorophores was demonstrated and properties of the PDA/fluorophore systems were explored. Liposomes containing PDA and fluorophores exhibited enhanced Stokes shift and increase in emission as a result of energy transfer from PDA to fluorophore. The effects of fluorophore variation, degree of PDA polymerization and diyne placement in the diacetylene lipid tails on the emission enhancement were studied. It was determined that signal generation was optimized at a relatively low extent of PDA polymerization with the optimal degree of polymerization dependent on the other parameters. Energy transfer was used as a tool to detect fluorophore exchange between polymerized and unpolymerized liposomes and to study the effects of fluorophore structure on exchange from unpolymerized to PDA liposomes. Fluorophores that locate at the aqueous interface with alkyl anchors were slow to transfer while fluorophores that partition into the alkyl regions of the liposomes transfer quickly.