Core Size does not Affect Blinking Behavior of Dye-Doped Ag@SiO₂ Core-Shell Nanoparticles for Super-Resolution...

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Optical Microscopy
• Materials Science

Background:

• Dye-doped nanoparticles are explored as luminescent labels for super-resolution microscopy.
• Label size is critical for minimizing frame shifts in super-resolution imaging.
• Silver-silica (Ag@SiO2) core-shell nanoparticles offer potential as self-blinking labels.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the influence of silver core and silica shell on the photoblinking properties of Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles.
• Determine how core size and shell thickness affect the self-blinking behavior for super-resolution applications.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized Ag@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles with varying core sizes and shell thicknesses.
• Analyzed photoblinking properties under dry and hydrated conditions using Rhodamine 110 doping.
• Measured nanoparticle size using dynamic light scattering and localized blinking particles via super-resolution microscopy.

Main Results:

• The silver core, not the silica shell, is responsible for the observed photoblinking.
• No statistically significant difference in photoblinking intensity or duty cycle was found with decreasing core size.
• Successfully synthesized smaller nanoparticles (93-110 nm) exhibiting single-particle self-blinking.

Conclusions:

• Silver core size does not impact the photoblinking performance or luminescence intensity of Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles.
• Nanoparticle size can be optimized independently of blinking properties, enhancing their utility in super-resolution microscopy.
• These findings enable the development of tunable, self-blinking labels for advanced imaging techniques.