Anti-Quenching NIR-II J-Aggregates of Benzo[c]thiophene Fluorophore for Highly Efficient Bioimaging and Phototheranostics
Journal
Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Date Issued
2023-03-03
Author(s)
Lee, Ka-Wai
Gao, Yijian
Wei, Wei-Chih
Tan, Ji-Hua
Wan, Yingpeng
Feng, Zhe
Zhang, Yuhuang
Liu, Ying
Zheng, Xiuli
Cao, Chen
Chen, Huan
Wang, Pengfei
Li, Shengliang
Lee, Chun-Sing
Abstract
Molecular fluorophores with the second near-infrared (NIR-II) emission hold great potential for deep-tissue bioimaging owing to their excellent biocompatibility and high resolution. Recently, J-aggregates are used to construct long-wavelength NIR-II emitters as their optical bands show remarkable red shifts upon forming water-dispersible nano-aggregates. However, their wide applications in the NIR-II fluorescence imaging are impeded by the limited varieties of J-type backbone and serious fluorescence quenching. Herein, a bright benzo[c]thiophene (BT) J-aggregate fluorophore (BT6) with anti-quenching effect is reported for highly efficient NIR-II bioimaging and phototheranostics. The BT fluorophores are manipulated to have Stokes shift over 400 nm and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property for conquering the self-quenching issue of the J-type fluorophores. Upon forming BT6 assemblies in an aqueous environment, the absorption over 800 nm and NIR-II emission over 1000 nm are boosted for more than 41 and 26 folds, respectively. In vivo visualization of the whole-body blood vessel and imaging-guided phototherapy results verify that BT6 NPs are excellent agent for NIR-II fluorescence imaging and cancer phototheranostics. This work develops a strategy to construct bright NIR-II J-aggregates with precisely manipulated anti-quenching properties for highly efficient biomedical applications.
Subjects
J-aggregates; NIR-II fluorescence imaging; aggregation-induced emission; large Stokes shift; molecular fluorophores; phototheranostics
Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
Type
journal article