Exfoliated near infrared fluorescent silicate nanosheets for (bio)photonics.

ABSTRACT: Imaging of complex (biological) samples in the near-infrared (NIR) is beneficial due to reduced light scattering, absorption, phototoxicity, and autofluorescence. However, there are few NIR fluorescent materials known and suitable for biomedical applications. Here we exfoliate the layered pigment CaCuSi₄O₁₀ (Egyptian Blue, EB) via ball milling and facile tip sonication into NIR fluorescent nanosheets (EB-NS). The size of EB-NS can be tailored to diameters <20 nm and heights down to 1 nm. EB-NS fluoresce at 910 nm and the fluorescence intensity correlates with the number of Cu²⁺ ions. Furthermore, EB-NS display no bleaching and high brightness compared with other NIR fluorophores. The versatility of EB-NS is demonstrated by in-vivo single-particle tracking a

SUBMITTER: Selvaggio G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7083911 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature