Trans-membrane Fluorescence Enhancement by Carbon Dots: Ionic Interactions and Energy Transfer

Pritzl, Stefanie D.; Pschunder, Fernando; Ehrat, Florian; Bhattacharyya, Santanu; Lohmüller, Theobald; Huergo, Maria Ana und Feldmann, Jochen (2019): Trans-membrane Fluorescence Enhancement by Carbon Dots: Ionic Interactions and Energy Transfer. In: Nano Letters, Vol. 19, No. 6: pp. 3886-3891

Abstract

We report on trans-membrane interactions between blue-emitting carbon dots (CDs) and fluorescein. Hydrophobic CDs with a positive surface charge are embedded as-synthesized in the lipophilic sheet of the bilayer membrane of large synthetic phospholipid vesicles. The vesicles are prepared by mixing DOPC phospholipids and lipid molecules that contain anionic fluorescein attached to their hydrophilic head. Due to attractive electrostatic interactions, the CDs and fluorescein conjoin within the vesicle membrane, which leads to photoluminescence enhancement of fluorescein and facilitates trans-membrane energy transfer between the CDs and the dye.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Physics
• Research Centers: Center for NanoScience (CENS)
• Subjects: 500 Science > 530 Physics; 500 Science > 500 Science
• ISSN: 1530-6984
• Language: English