| Jun 24, 2024 |
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(Nanowerk News) A novel technique with potential applications for fields such as droplet chemistry and photochemistry has been demonstrated by an Osaka Metropolitan University-led research group.
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The findings were published in Advanced Optical Materials (“Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Control by Means of an Optical Force”).
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Professor Yasuyuki Tsuboi of the Graduate School of Science and the team investigated Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), a phenomenon seen in photosynthesis and other natural processes where a donor molecule in an excited state transfers energy to an acceptor molecule.
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| Continuous laser irradiation causes Förster resonance energy transfer in the polymer droplet to accelerate, as seen in the changing color. (Image: Osaka Metropolitan University)
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Using dyes to mark the donor and acceptor molecules, the team set out to see if FRET could be controlled by the intensity of an optical force, in this case a laser beam. By focusing a laser beam on an isolated polymer droplet, the team showed that increased intensity accelerated the energy transfer, made visible by the polymer changing color due to the dyes mixing.
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Fluorescence could also be controlled just by adjusting the laser intensity without touching the sample, offering a novel non-contact approach.
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“Although this research is still at a basic stage, it may provide new options for a variety of future FRET research applications,” Professor Tsuboi explained. “We believe that extending this to quantum dots as well as new polymer systems and fluorescent molecules is the next challenge.”
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