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Controlled Synthesis and Fluorescence Tracking of Highly Uniform PolyN-isopropylacrylamide Microgels

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Local Water Content in Polymer Gels Measured with Super-Resolved Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging.

Sankar Jana¹, Oleksii Nevskyi², Hannah Höche¹

¹Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 2, 52074, Aachen, Germany.

Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)

|January 2, 2024

Summary

Researchers quantified local water content in microgels using fluorescence quenching. Deuterated water (D2O) and fluorescence lifetime single molecule localization microscopy (FL-SMLM) revealed uniform water reduction in collapsed thermo-responsive microgels.

Keywords:

fluorescence lifetime imaging fluorescence quenching hydrogels microgels single molecule localization microscopy super-resolution fluorescence microscopy water content

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Biophysics
Chemical Engineering

Background:

Water molecules are crucial for the structure, function, and dynamics of biomaterials.
Quantifying local water content provides molecular insights for advanced material applications.
Fluorescence quenching by H2O offers a method to determine local water concentration.

Purpose of the Study:

To nanoscopically determine local water content in microgels.
To analyze changes in water content of thermo-responsive microgels with temperature variations.
To investigate the spatial distribution of water within microgels.

Main Methods:

Utilized fluorescence lifetime single molecule localization microscopy (FL-SMLM).
Employed the fluorescence quenching effect of H2O on red-emitting dyes.
Used varying ratios of H2O/D2O to measure local water concentration.

Main Results:

Successfully determined nanoscopic local water content in microgels.
Observed a significant decrease in water content in collapsed thermo-responsive microgels at elevated temperatures.
Found a surprisingly uniform reduction in water content throughout the microgel volume.
Detected slightly higher water content near the dye in the periphery of swollen microgels.

Conclusions:

FL-SMLM combined with fluorescence lifetime measurements is effective for quantifying local water content in microgels.
Thermo-responsive microgels exhibit a uniform decrease in water content upon collapse.
The findings offer new molecular insights into microgel behavior and properties.