Supramolecular polymer micelles as universal tools for constructing high-performance fluorescent nanoparticles

This study is the first attempt to encapsulate fluorescent rhodamine 6G (R6G) into supramolecular micelles as a means of manipulating the fluorescence color and quantum efficiency of R6G, and provides a quick and simple route towards the fabrication of high-efficiency fluorescent nanoparticles for next-generation lighting devices and biomedical image applications. We demonstrate that these R6G-loaded micelles exhibit a uniform size distribution, tunable R6G loading capacity and a rapid R6G release rate, in combination with excellent thermal sensitivity due to dissociation of the dynamic hydrogen bonds at environmental temperatures above the lower critical solution temperature. Importantly, R6G-loaded micelles act as an effective chromophore to greatly improve the fluorescence-color stability of R6G in aqueous solution and provide a maximum quantum yield of 0.75, which is more than two times higher than that of the equivalent concentration of free R6G; these features are highly desirable yet extremely rare in conventional polymer carriers and low-molecular-weight surfactant systems.