Fluorescent hybrid materials: A versatile platform for gas sensing, pH sensing, and cell imaging

Materials hybrided by organic and inorganic partners via chemical bonds formation are able to display stable and multi-functional behaviors. Then, the versatile sensing platform could be established depending on their specific chemical and physical properties. In this research paper, we prepared the fluorescence materials (POSS-PDB and POSS-NTB) by a simple method. Among of them, POSS-NTB was verified as a mesoporous material with a narrowed pore diameter around 17 nm and the large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 227 m2/g. Then, the solid powder of POSS-NTB was selected and evidenced as effective gas sensor toward CO2, N2 and O2 at 273 K under 1 atm pressure. Additionally, these fluorescence materials could be successfully applied as a pH sensor in the solution phase. Through combining biocompatible POSS and fluorescent molecules, POSS-NTB could enter into the cells and aggregate in the cytoplasm successfully.