Stable biocompatible cross-linked fluorescent polymeric nanoparticles based on AIE dye and itaconic anhydride

Self-assembly of polymeric materials to form nanoparticles is a particularly promising strategy for various biomedical applications, however, these self-assembling systems often encounter the critical micelle concentration (CMC) issue, as the nanoparticles is usually unstable at low concentration. Therefore, stable cross-linked fluorescent polymeric nanoparticles (FPNs) were covalently constructed from an aggregation induced emission (AIE) dye, itaconic anhydride, poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether methacylate and polyethylenimine. These obtained PhE-ITA-20%(80%) FPNs were fully characterized by a series of techniques including 1H NMR spectra, UV–vis absorption spectra, fluorescence spectra, FT-IR spectra, transmission electron microscopy, gel permeation chromatography, and dynamic light scattering. Such FPNs emitted intense fluorescence due to the introduction of aggregation induced emission dye. More importantly, the FPNs were found extremely stable in physiological solution even below the CMC owing to their cross-linked architectures. Biocompatibility evaluation and cell uptake behavior of the FPNs were further investigated to explore their potential biomedical applications, the demonstrated excellent biocompatibility made them promising for cell imaging.