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Updated: Jan 4, 2026
Synthesis and Calibration of Phosphorescent Nanoprobes for Oxygen Imaging in Biological Systems
Published on: March 3, 2010
A smart nanoprobe based on a gadolinium complex encapsulated by ZIF-8 with enhanced room temperature phosphorescence
Zhongli Zhao1, Jiaxi Ru2, Panpan Zhou1
1State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, P. R. China. tangyu@lzu.edu.cn caoj@lzu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The phosphorescence lifetime approach based on the room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) property has received considerable attention in recent years due to its excellent performance in the precise measurement of oxygen. Herein, a smart nanoprobe, Gd[PC]@ZIF-8, was designed and assembled by homogenously encapsulating a rare-earth complex phosphor Gd[(Pyr)4cyclen] (Pyr = pyrenol) into a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8). Because of the restriction of the metal-organic framework (MOF) matrix and host-guest interactions, the nanoprobe Gd[PC]@ZIF-8 exhibited highly enhanced RTP properties, including intensity, quantum yield, and elongated decay lifetime. It displayed an outstanding linear relationship between the phosphorescence decay lifetime, intensity and oxygen concentration, which can be applied in the field of oxygen sensing. Moreover, the complex Gd[(Pyr)4cyclen] in the nanoprobe Gd[PC]@ZIF-8 served as a favorable photosensitizer that resulted in the simultaneous conversion of sufficient oxygen molecules into single state oxygen (1O2) under irradiation during the phosphorescence quenching process, which is conducive to photodynamic therapy (PDT). Thus, the design of the smart nanoprobe Gd[PC]@ZIF-8 in this study provides an ingenious strategy of utilizing a MOF as a matrix to enhance the RTP properties of phosphors for synchronous oxygen sensing and PDT.
