Multicolor Conjugated Polymer Dots for Biological Fluorescence Imaging

Highly fluorescent conjugated polymer dots were developed for demanding applications such as fluorescence imaging in live cells. These nanoparticles exhibit small particle diameters, extraordinary fluorescence brightness, and excellent photostability. Single particle fluorescence imaging and kinetic studies indicate much higher emission rates (approximately 10(8) s(-1)) and little or no blinking of the nanoparticles as compared to typical results for single dye molecules and quantum dots. Analysis of single particle photobleaching trajectories reveals excellent photostabilityas many as 10(9) or more photons emitted per nanoparticle prior to irreversible photobleaching. The superior figures of merit of these…