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Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Synthesis and Calibration of Phosphorescent Nanoprobes for Oxygen Imaging in Biological Systems
Published on: March 3, 2010
Mineral acid-triggered multicolor room-temperature phosphorescence nanoprobes for time-resolved bioimaging
Zhixia Feng1, Wenxin Xu1, Jinpan Zhang1
1Suzhou Key Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Biomedicine, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials & Collaborative Innovation Centre of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology (NANO-CIC), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. mingyuecui@suda.edu.cn.
Abstract:
We present a facile strategy to achieve color-tunability room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) nanoprobes by doping mineral acids (i.e., boric acid and phosphoric acid) in an organic silicon scaffold through a cross-linking process. Such RTP nanoprobes exhibit inherent tunable phosphorescence (from 420-650 nm) with long lifetime (emission lasting for ∼5-15 s, RTP lifetime: ∼0.53-2.11 s) and high quantum yields (∼13.1-43.0%). Therefore, the as-prepared nanoprobes enable multiple imaging in live cells with a high signal-to-background ratio value of ∼52.
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