Amphiphilic Star Copolymer‐Based Bimodal Fluorogenic/Magnetic Resonance Probes for Concomitant Bacteria Detection and Inhibition

Abstract

Four-arm star-shaped copolymers, TPE-star-P(DMA-co-BMA-co-Gd), containing TPE cores with an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature, a T 1 -type magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agent, and amphiphilic cationic arms, are synthesized. By taking advantage of non-covalent interactions between star copolymers and bacteria surfaces, bimodal fluorometric/MR detection and concomitant inhibition of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria strains in aqueous media are explored.