title: CO2-switchable fluorescence of a dendritic polymer and its applications.
abstract: The synthesis and properties of CO2 responsive and fluorescent dendritic polymers, poly(amido amine)/Pluronic F127 (PAMAM/F127), are reported in this paper. The morphologies and sizes of PAMAM/F127 dendritic polymers were investigated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). PAMAM/F127 dendritic polymers showed unimolecular micelle morphologies at low concentrations, and changed to multimolecular micelles at higher concentrations. Additionally, fluorescence spectra and confocal laser scanning microscopy images showed that PAMAM/F127 dendritic polymers exhibited a fluorescent enhancement response to the presence of CO2. Apart from that, the release behavior of PAMAM/F127 gels under simulated body fluids was investigated by choosing curcumin as the hydrophobic drug. The results indicated that PAMAM/F127 dendritic polymers can be used to improve the solubility of curcumin, and the drug released faster in the presence of CO2. Such CO2 responsive fluorescent dendritic polymers are potentially applicable in cellular imaging or drug controlled release.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China. gaochm@lzu.edu.cn mzliu@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China. gaochm@lzu.edu.cn mzliu@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shaoyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lü
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China. gaochm@lzu.edu.cn mzliu@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Mingzhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China. gaochm@lzu.edu.cn mzliu@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and Department of Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China. gaochm@lzu.edu.cn mzliu@lzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D003474:Curcumin / Q000737:chemistry; D050091:Dendrimers / Q000737:chemistry; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D065546:Drug Liberation; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008823:Micelles; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D020442:Poloxamer / Q000737:chemistry*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012995:Solubility; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D050091:Dendrimers; D008823:Micelles; C104700:PAMAM Starburst; D020442:Poloxamer; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D003474:Curcumin