The Photophysics of Polythiophene Nanoparticles for Biological Applications.
Chembiochem
; 20(4): 532-536, 2019 02 15.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29715376
ABSTRACT
In this work the photophysics of poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanoparticles (NPs) is investigated in the context of their biological applications. The NPs, made as colloidal suspensions in aqueous buffers, present a distinct absorption band in the low-energy region. On the basis of systematic analysis of absorption and transient absorption (TA) spectra taken under different pH conditions, this band is associated with charge-transfer states generated by the polarization of loosely bound polymer chains and originating from complexes formed with electron-withdrawing species. Importantly, the ground-state depletion of these states upon photoexcitation is active even on microsecond timescales, thus suggesting that they act as precursor states for long-living polarons; this could be beneficial for cellular stimulation. Preliminary transient absorption microscopy results for NPs internalized within the cells reveal the presence of long-living species, further substantiating their relevance in biointerfaces.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Polymers
/
Thiophenes
/
Nanoparticles
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Chembiochem
Journal subject:
BIOQUIMICA
Year:
2019
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italy