PMID- 38372740
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20240306
IS  - 1463-9084 (Electronic)
IS  - 1463-9076 (Linking)
VI  - 26
IP  - 10
DP  - 2024 Mar 6
TI  - Poly(dimethylsiloxane) as a room-temperature solid solvent for photophysics and 
      photochemistry.
PG  - 8062-8076
LID - 10.1039/d3cp05413f [doi]
AB  - Medium viscosity strongly affects the dynamics of solvated species and can 
      drastically alter the deactivation pathways of their excited states. This study 
      demonstrates the utility of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) as a room-temperature 
      solid-state medium for optical spectroscopy. As a thermoset elastic polymer, PDMS 
      is transparent in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared spectral 
      regions. It is easy to mould into any shape, forming surfaces with a pronounced 
      smoothness. While PDMS is broadly used for the fabrication of microfluidic 
      devices, it swells in organic solvents, presenting severe limitations for the 
      utility of such devices for applications employing non-aqueous fluids. 
      Nevertheless, this swelling is reversible, which proves immensely beneficial for 
      loading samples into the PDMS solid matrix. Transferring molecular-rotor dyes 
      (used for staining prokaryotic cells and amyloid proteins) from non-viscous 
      solvents into PDMS induces orders-of-magnitude enhancement of their fluorescence 
      quantum yield and excited-state lifetimes, providing mechanistic insights about 
      their deactivation pathways. These findings demonstrate the unexplored potential 
      of PDMS as a solid solvent for optical applications.
FAU - Clark, John A
AU  - Clark JA
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-5623-7291
AD  - Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. 
      vullev@ucr.edu.
FAU - Robinson, Samantha
AU  - Robinson S
AD  - Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. 
      vullev@ucr.edu.
FAU - Espinoza, Eli M
AU  - Espinoza EM
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-0134-2833
AD  - Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
FAU - Bao, Duoduo
AU  - Bao D
AD  - Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. 
      vullev@ucr.edu.
FAU - Derr, James B
AU  - Derr JB
AD  - Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
FAU - Croft, Luca
AU  - Croft L
AD  - Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. 
      vullev@ucr.edu.
FAU - O'Mari, Omar
AU  - O'Mari O
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-4742-4623
AD  - Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. 
      vullev@ucr.edu.
FAU - Grover, William H
AU  - Grover WH
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6854-8951
AD  - Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. 
      vullev@ucr.edu.
FAU - Vullev, Valentine I
AU  - Vullev VI
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-3416-9686
AD  - Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. 
      vullev@ucr.edu.
AD  - Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
AD  - Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
AD  - Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of California, Riverside, 
      CA 92521, USA.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20240306
PL  - England
TA  - Phys Chem Chem Phys
JT  - Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
JID - 100888160
SB  - IM
EDAT- 2024/02/19 12:42
MHDA- 2024/02/19 12:43
CRDT- 2024/02/19 11:03
PHST- 2024/02/19 12:43 [medline]
PHST- 2024/02/19 12:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2024/02/19 11:03 [entrez]
AID - 10.1039/d3cp05413f [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2024 Mar 6;26(10):8062-8076. doi: 10.1039/d3cp05413f.