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PAINT‐ing Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)‐Diphenylalanine Hydrogels
Author(s) -
Fuentes Edgar,
Boháčová Kamila,
FuentesCaparrós Ana M.,
Schweins Ralf,
Draper Emily R.,
Adams Dave J.,
Pujals Silvia,
Albertazzi Lorenzo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202001560
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , materials science , nanotechnology , characterization (materials science) , nanoscopic scale , fiber , confocal , confocal microscopy , tissue engineering , chemical engineering , computer science , biomedical engineering , polymer chemistry , composite material , optics , medicine , physics , engineering
Self‐assembly of fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl‐protected diphenylalanine (FmocFF) in water is widely known to produce hydrogels. Typically, confocal microscopy is used to visualize such hydrogels under wet conditions, that is, without freezing or drying. However, key aspects of hydrogels like fiber diameter, network morphology and mesh size are sub‐diffraction limited features and cannot be visualized effectively using this approach. In this work, we show that it is possible to image FmocFF hydrogels by Points Accumulation for Imaging in Nanoscale Topography (PAINT) in native conditions and without direct gel labelling. We demonstrate that the fiber network can be visualized with improved resolution (≈50 nm) both in 2D and 3D. Quantitative information is extracted such as mesh size and fiber diameter. This method can complement the existing characterization tools for hydrogels and provide useful information supporting the design of new materials.