Semiconducting Polymer Nanoparticles as Fluorescent Probes for Biological Imaging and Sensing

In recent years, semiconducting polymer nanoparticles have emerged as a new class of extraordinarily bright fluorescent probes. These polymer nanoparticles, which are primarily composed of pi-conjugated polymers, exhibit a variety of outstanding features, including exceptional fluorescence brightness, fast radiative rate, good photostability, facile surface functionalization, and low cytotoxicity. These advantageous characteristics make polymer nanoparticles highly promising for applications in biological imaging and sensing. This progress report highlights recent advances in the synthesis, characterization, and applications as bio-labels or sensors of these highly emissive organic nanoparticles.