Abstract:

This works introduces a comprehensive research experiment about the synthesis and characterization of nanoprobes for detecting reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this experiment, organic semiconducting polymer nanoprobes were prepared using nano-coprecipitation method. Those nanoprobes can be employed for ratiometric detection of ROS, using semiconductor polymer (PFODBT) as the reference and fluorescent molecules (IR775s) as responsive unit. Specifically, the content of ROS (ClO^- and ONOO^-) can be measured by calculating PFODBT-to-IR775s absorbance ratio. Moreover, based on the principle of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between PFODBT and IR775s, the ratio of fluorescent emission of PFODBT/IR775s can also be used for fluorescence ratiometric detection of ROS. This experiment is comprehensive and feasible, and benefited for training the solid experimental skills and scientific research ability for students.

Key words: Analytical measurement, Nanoprobe, Fluorescence resonance energy transfer, Ratiometric detection, Reactive oxygen species