Single-photon-driven up-/down-conversion nanohybrids for in vivo mercury detection and real-time tracking. Issue 4 (18th December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Seo, Sung Eun; Park, Chul Soon; Park, Seon Joo; Kim, Kyung Ho; Lee, Jiyeon; Kim, Jinyeong; Lee, Sang Hun; Song, Hyun Seok; Ha, Tai Hwan; Kim, Jae-Hyuk; Yim, Hee Won; Kim, Hyoung-il; Kwon, Oh Seok
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 8:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 1668
• Page End: 1677
• Publication Date: 2019-12-18
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c9ta10921h
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : We provided a facile and innovative methodology to detect hazardous molecules using single-photon-driven up-/down-conversion (UC/DC) nanohybrids. Abstract : A multifunctional assay with up-/down-conversion (UC/DC) nanohybrids which enables the detection and real-time tracking of hazardous molecules has been developed for use in the field of photoluminescence (PL) point-of-care testing due to its cost and convenience. In particular, innovative approaches such as dual or multimodal imaging and detection under only a single-photon pulse system are highly difficult owing to the issues of device simplification and miniaturization. In this work, we first demonstrated single-photon-driven UC/DC dual-modal PL nanohybrids and showed their high performance in in vivo mercury detection and real-time tracking in a mussel simultaneously. Specifically, UC/DC nanohybrids capable of being stimulated by a single photon were presented via a facile and versatile strategy by combining DC fluorophores for heavy metal ion screening with triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) nanocapsules for real-time tracking. By adopting the advantages of the structural transformation of DC fluorophores and highly stable TTA-UC nanocapsules, the outstanding monitoring performance of a standard heavy metal ion ( i.e. Hg 2+ ) was achieved by a dual-modal PL assay with nanohybrids, exhibiting ultra-sensitivity (under 1 nM) and high-selectivity. Interestingly, their application in the real world was also remarkable in screening and tracking of mercury in mussels. This single-photon-driven UC/DC convergence system will provide powerful analytical methodologies for target detection and real-time tracking in vivo and will attract widespread attention from researchers in the fields of PL nanomaterials and fluorophores.