Photon Force-Induced Phase Transition Dynamics of Single Hydrogel Nanoparticles in Water

We investigated laser-induced phase transition dynamics of μm sized single poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel particles in water. Single poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel particles labeled with a polarity-sensitive fluorescent probe monomer were optically trapped by a focused laser beam and its fluorescence dynamics was analyzed. The fluorescence intensity of trapped single gel particles was increased with the trapping laser power, while the fluorescence peak wavelength was not changed. Temperature-induced changes of fluorescence properties of the single particle were confirmed to be similar to those of the bulk solution. These behaviors are well interpreted by considering that the fluorescence intensity and fluorescence peak reflect local interactions between the fluorescent probe and attaching (bound) water molecules and effective polarity determined by (free) water content in the particle, respectively. A change in the fluorescence peak wavelength after laser trapping was followed and its blue-shift was confirmed to occur within a few hundreds seconds, indicating that a single gel particle gradually attains to a globular state on this timescale, expelling initially free water molecules and then bound ones.