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Visualizing phase transition of upper critical solution temperature (UCST) polymers with AIE

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Abstract

The stimuli-responsive polymers with upper critical solution temperatures (UCST) are highly attractive for drug delivery applications. However, the phase transition process of UCST polymer is usually characterized by turbidity measurement and electron microscopy, which are significantly restricted by low sensitivity and static observation. In contrary, the fluorescence technique has significant advantages in terms of high sensitivity, easy operation, and dynamic observation. However, the conventional fluorophores suffer from the drawbacks of aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) after being encapsulated by UCST polymers, which are not suitable for direct visualization of the phase transition process. To tackle this challenge, we herein developed a series of UCST polymers based on polyacrylamides decorated with bile acid and aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active tetraphenylethene (TPE) groups, which can be used for direct fluorescence monitoring of the phase transition process. Moreover, the AIE-active UCST polymers can serve as drug carriers, which can not only monitor the drug release process under thermal stimuli, but also verify the drug release by fluorescence recovery after thermal stimuli. It is expected that the AIE-active UCST polymers with self-monitoring ability are promising for biomedical applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21704026, 21788102, 51620105009, 21877040, U1801252, 21602063, 22075087), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (2019A1515011129), the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (201804020060, 202007020002, 201704030069, 202002030229), Pearl River S&T Nova Program of Guangzhou (201806010152), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2018JQ01), and Foundation for Xinghua Scholar of South China University of Technology, National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC1103400, 2017YFC1105004, 2018YFC0311103).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Guangdong Province, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials and Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Innovation Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, China

    Yong-Guang Jia, Kai-Feng Chen, Meng Gao, Sa Liu, Jin Wang, Xiaohui Chen, Lin Wang, Yunhua Chen, Wenjing Song & Li Ren

  2. School of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Huatang Zhang

  3. Département de Chimie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Xiao-Xia Zhu

  4. AIE Institute, Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates of Guangdong Province, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Meng Gao & Ben Zhong Tang

  5. Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Institute for Advanced Study, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hong Kong, China

    Ben Zhong Tang

Authors
  1. Yong-Guang Jia
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  2. Kai-Feng Chen
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  3. Meng Gao
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  4. Sa Liu
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  5. Jin Wang
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  6. Xiaohui Chen
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  7. Lin Wang
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  8. Yunhua Chen
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  9. Wenjing Song
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  10. Huatang Zhang
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  11. Li Ren
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  12. Xiao-Xia Zhu
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  13. Ben Zhong Tang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Meng Gao, Li Ren or Ben Zhong Tang.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Jia, YG., Chen, KF., Gao, M. et al. Visualizing phase transition of upper critical solution temperature (UCST) polymers with AIE. Sci. China Chem. 64, 403–407 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-020-9893-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-020-9893-6

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