Description:
| Samples exhibiting the tunable
wavelength of the boron dyes |
Executive Summary
Researchers at the University of
Virginia have developed a family of light-emitting boron dye compounds that are
easily tuned and that emit fluorescence and oxygen-sensitive phosphorescence
after illumination.
Background
Chemical dyes are
used for innumerable applications, from biomedical diagnosis to LEDs in
television screens. The application of each particular dye is a function of its
environmental sensitivity, intensity and wavelength, among other features. For
instance, dyes in the Invitrogen’s BODIPY series lack temperature-sensitive
delayed fluorescence and oxygen-sensitive, room-temperature phosphorescence.
Most oxygen-sensing dyes are made from expensive, heavy metals that are in fact
toxic. Existing boron dyes have typically been limited by an inability to tune
the relative intensities of fluorescence and phosphorescence in a boron
biomaterial.
The boron-poly(lactic acid) or -PLA conjugates developed in
the laboratory of U.Va.’s Cassandra L. Fraser, Ph.D., overcome these limitations
to provide a more diverse, temperature- and oxygen-sensitive luminescent
material.
Invention Description
These compounds,
conceived entirely in the Fraser Lab, incorporate biocompatible, environmentally
sensitive boron fluorophores into various chemical frameworks that tune the
fluorescent and phosphorescent outputs. For a variety of biomedical and
materials applications, the compound can be covalently bound to a PLA polymer
film and can additionally report on average MW of the PLA through the
fluorescent wavelength. The final product indicates oxygen content through the
single, easy-to-detect ratio of fluorescent to phosphorescent intensity.
Advantages
These materials offer the following
advantages:
- Long-lasting, room-temperature phosphorescence with no self-quenching
- An easily tuned emission wavelength
- Environmental safety (the material is renewable and biocompatible)
- Diverse forms and applications (in that the material is available as a
film, fiber, powder or nanoparticle)
- Visual color detection
Applications
Potential applications for this
technology include:
- Oxygen sensing for food and drug packaging
- Textile enhancement
- Coatings
- Temperature sensing
- Imaging
- Industrial and environmental sensing
- Display technologies
