Fabrication of water-dispersible and biocompatible red fluorescent organic nanoparticles via PEGylation of aggregate induced emission enhancement dye and their cell imaging applications

PEGylated red fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs) with aggregate induced emission enhancement (AIEE) properties have been prepared via self assembly of a cyano-substituted diarylethene derivate dye (C18-R) and synthetic copolymers, which were obtained by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using stearyl methacrylate and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate as monomers. Thus obtained FONs were characterized by a series of techniques including transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and fluorescent spectroscopy. To explore their potential biomedical applications, biocompatibility and cell uptake behavior of these red FONs were subsequently investigated. We demonstrated that FONs showed uniform morphology, suitable particle size (70–90 nm), high water dispersibility, strong red fluorescence and excellent biocompatibility, making them promising for bioimaging applications.