Stimuli-Responsive Genetically Engineered Polymer Hydrogel Demonstrates Emergent Optical Responses

Eva Rose M Balog; Koushik Ghosh; Young-Il Park; Vaughn Hartung; Prakash Sista; Reginaldo C Rocha; Hsing-Lin Wang; Jennifer S Martinez

doi:10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00137

Stimuli-Responsive Genetically Engineered Polymer Hydrogel Demonstrates Emergent Optical Responses

ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2016 Jul 11;2(7):1135-1142. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00137. Epub 2016 Jun 27.

Authors

Eva Rose M Balog¹, Koushik Ghosh², Young-Il Park³, Vaughn Hartung⁴, Prakash Sista⁴, Reginaldo C Rocha⁴, Hsing-Lin Wang⁴, Jennifer S Martinez⁴

Affiliations

¹ Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Materials Physics and Applications Division, ⊥C-PCS, Chemistry Division, #MST-7, Materials Science and Technology Division, and △Institute for Materials Science, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States.
² Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Materials Physics and Applications Division, C-PCS, Chemistry Division, #MST-7, Materials Science and Technology Division, and △Institute for Materials Science, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States.
³ Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Materials Physics and Applications Division, C-PCS, Chemistry Division, MST-7, Materials Science and Technology Division, and △Institute for Materials Science, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States.
⁴ Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Materials Physics and Applications Division, C-PCS, Chemistry Division, MST-7, Materials Science and Technology Division, and Institute for Materials Science, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States.

PMID: 33465871
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00137

Abstract

Biopolymer-based optical hydrogels represent an emerging class of materials with potential applications in biocompatible integrated optoelectronic devices, bioimaging applications, and stretchable/flexible photonics. We have synthesized stimuli-responsive three-dimensional hydrogels from genetically engineered elastin-like polymers (ELPs) and have loaded these hydrogels with an amine-containing p-phenylenevinylene oligomer (OPPV) derivative featuring highly tunable, environmentally sensitive optical properties. The composite ELP/OPPV hydrogels exhibit both pH- and temperature-dependent fluorescence emission, from which we have characterized a unique optical behavior that emerged from OPPV within the hydrogel environment. By systematic comparison with free OPPV in solution, our results suggest that this distinct behavior is due to local electronic effects arising from interactions between the hydrophobic ELP microenvironment and the nonprotonated OPPV species at pH 7 or higher.

Keywords: composite material; conjugated oligomer; genetically encoded; optically active material; photoluminescence; polymeric material; stimuli-responsive material.