Alleviating NIR-Ⅱ emission quenching in ring-fused fluorophore via manipulating dimer populations for superior fluorescence imaging

Xiaofei Miao; Mingxuan Jia; Xianwei Weng; Jie Zhang; Yonghui Pan; Hui Zhao; Zhongzheng Yu; Quli Fan; Wenbo Hu

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-01787-0

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Alleviating NIR-Ⅱ emission quenching in ring-fused fluorophore via manipulating dimer populations for superior fluorescence imaging

Original Articles

- Alleviating NIR-Ⅱ emission quenching in ring-fused fluorophore via manipulating dimer populations for superior fluorescence imaging
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 14, Issue 4, Pages: 1070-1080(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (LoFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, Nanjing, China
  2.State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (LoFE) & Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China
  3.Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Author bio：
  
  Quli Fan (iamqlfan@njupt.edu.cn)
  Wenbo Hu (iamwbhu@nwpu.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-01787-0
  CLC：
- Received：11 October 2024，
  
  Revised：08 February 2025，
  
  Accepted：2025-02-13，
  
  Published Online：04 March 2025，
  
  Published：30 April 2025
- Accepted：
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Miao, X. F. et al. Alleviating NIR-Ⅱ emission quenching in ring-fused fluorophore via manipulating dimer populations for superior fluorescence imaging. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 1070-1080 (2025).
DOI：

Miao, X. F. et al. Alleviating NIR-Ⅱ emission quenching in ring-fused fluorophore via manipulating dimer populations for superior fluorescence imaging. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 1070-1080 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-01787-0.

摘要

Abstract

Emission quenching resulting from fluorophore aggregation has long been a significant challenge in optimizing emission-based technologies

such as fluorescence imaging and optoelectronic devices. Alleviating this quenching in aggregates is crucial

yet progress is impeded by the limited understanding of

the nature and impact of aggregates on emission. Here

we elucidate the critical role of dimeric aggregate (dimer) in alleviating second near-infrared (NIR-Ⅱ

900-1700 nm) emission quenching from ring-fused fluorophore 4F for superior fluorescence imaging. Spectral decomposition and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate the predominance of dimer populations in 4F aggregates. Notably

dimers exhibit significantly weaker emission but intense intermolecular nonradiative (

inter

NR) decay compared to monomers

as demonstrated by ultrafast spectra and quantum calculation. Therefore

the predominant population of dimers with weak emission and pronounced

inter

NR feature underlies the emission quenching in 4F aggregates. This discovery guides the preparation of ultrabright NIR-Ⅱ 4F nanofluorophore (4F NP3s) by decreasing dimer populations

which show 5-fold greater NIR-Ⅱ brightness than indocyanine green

enabling superior resolution in visualizing blood vessels. This work offers valuable insights into aggregation-caused quenching

with broad implications extending far beyond NIR-Ⅱ fluorescence imaging.

关键词

Keywords

references

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