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Published on: April 28, 2015
The Photophysics of Polythiophene Nanoparticles for Biological Applications
Ilaria Bargigia1, Elena Zucchetti1,2, Ajay Ram Srimath Kandada1
1Center for Nano Science and Technology @Polimi, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Pascoli 70/3, 20133, Milano, Italy.
Abstract:
In this work the photophysics of poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanoparticles (NPs) is investigated in the context of their biological applications. The NPs, made as colloidal suspensions in aqueous buffers, present a distinct absorption band in the low-energy region. On the basis of systematic analysis of absorption and transient absorption (TA) spectra taken under different pH conditions, this band is associated with charge-transfer states generated by the polarization of loosely bound polymer chains and originating from complexes formed with electron-withdrawing species. Importantly, the ground-state depletion of these states upon photoexcitation is active even on microsecond timescales, thus suggesting that they act as precursor states for long-living polarons; this could be beneficial for cellular stimulation. Preliminary transient absorption microscopy results for NPs internalized within the cells reveal the presence of long-living species, further substantiating their relevance in biointerfaces.
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