Design, preparation and assessment of surface-immobilised tetraphenylethenes for biosensing applications

Tetraphenylethene (TPE) shows a significant increase of fluorescence intensity when the rotational freedom of its phenyl groups is restricted. This special property allows the use of TPE in sensor applications, which have been previously described for the liquid phase only. However, some applications utilising arrays require the immobilisation of TPE dyes on solid surfaces. In this work, we synthesised and investigated the fluorescence behaviour of TPE derivatives on silica particles and quartz slides and suggest ways to employ the dye's properties in solid phase biosensor applications.