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Updated: May 23, 2025

A Bright NIR-II Fluorescence Probe for Vascular and Tumor Imaging
Published on: March 17, 2023
Nanoscale Rhodium(I) Based Metal-Organic Framework Demonstrating Intense NIR-II Luminescence for Bioimaging
Wenxuan Wei1,2, Yijing Du3,4, Xiaomei Kang1
1Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metals Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Abstract:
Although luminescent metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been widely reported, rare examples were found to emit in the second near-infrared (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nm) window. In this work, two nanoscale rhodium(I)-based MOFs (Rh-1@SDS and Rh-1@DSPE-PEG) have been controllably constructed in the aqueous dispersions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol) (DSPE-PEG), wherein micelle- and vesicle-like aggregates form, respectively, with high colloidal stability. The vesicular dispersion of Rh-1@DSPE-PEG exhibits intense NIR-II luminescence at 1125 (1245, shoulder) nm. Consequently, this nanoMOF was used as an NIR-II luminescence probe, indicative of high-resolution systemic and local vascular imaging, where the postoperative recovery process of flap transplantation was clearly visualized. Meanwhile, it also demonstrates superior tumor targeting in the NIR-II window. To the best of our knowledge, this research represents the first example of nanoMOFs having intense NIR-II luminescence and excellent imaging capabilities.

