PLoS ONE (Jan 2012)

Nanostructured oxygen sensor--using micelles to incorporate a hydrophobic platinum porphyrin.

  • Fengyu Su,
  • Ruhaniyah Alam,
  • Qian Mei,
  • Yanqing Tian,
  • Cody Youngbull,
  • Roger H Johnson,
  • Deirdre R Meldrum

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033390
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 3
p. e33390

Abstract

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Hydrophobic platinum(II)-5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenyl)-porphyrin (PtTFPP) was physically incorporated into micelles formed from poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) to enable the application of PtTFPP in aqueous solution. Micelles were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to show an average diameter of about 140 nm. PtTFPP showed higher quantum efficiency in micellar solution than in tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂). PtTFPP in micelles also exhibited higher photostability than that of PtTFPP suspended in water. PtTFPP in micelles exhibited good oxygen sensitivity and response time. This study provided an efficient approach to enable the application of hydrophobic oxygen sensors in a biological environment.