Probing nano-carriers in space and time
Dr. Evelyn Ploetz
Department of Chemistry, Center for Nanoscience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München
Porous nanoparticles are promising systems for drug-delivery and imaging applications since they can be selectively functionalized, facilitating the cellular uptake and release of compounds. To follow their cellular fate in real-time, we developed a dedicated multifunctional imaging combining space-resolved fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy with a suite of optical confocal imaging techniques, which we abbreviate as Multimodal Optical Spectroscopy And in situ Imaging Correlating (MOSAIC) approach. With this, we studied the chemical composition of reticular particles in space and time to probe the particle-inherent response to external stimuli, binding guest molecules, and the surrounding environment. I will discuss different materials, including the metal-organic framework system MIL-88A and MIL-100, employed, i.e., for drug delivery or energy conversion, as well as the water harvesting system MOF-801 to highlight the strength of our system and to outline future applications in dynamic systems.