In this study, a series of rationally designed emissive phenanthrene derivatives were synthesized and their aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties in tetrahydrofuran (THF)/water mixtures were investigated. Two tetraphenylethene (TPE) segments were conjugated to both ends of the phenanthrene core at the para-positions and meta-positions, resulting in pTPEP and mTPEP derivatives, respectively. While the TPE-conjugated phenanthrene derivatives did not show any emission when dissolved in pure THF, they showed strong sky-blue emissions in water-THF mixtures, which is attributed to the restriction of intramolecular motions of TPE segments by aggregation. Furthermore, silica nanoparticles loaded with these AIE-active compounds were prepared and proved to be promising intracellular imaging agents.

Herein, the preparation of the cross-linked copolymer hydrogels composed of various weight ratios of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) monomers employing free-radical polymerization was reported. The integration of the MPC monomer into HEMAbased hydrogels showed good transmittance (>90%) and enhanced the water content retention (79-202%) relative to those of pure HEMA-based hydrogel. Notably, the MPC-containing hydrogels (MPC-H) exhibited the improved anti-biofouling properties due to the formation of a compact hydration layer produced by the biomimetic MPC units at the hydrogel surface. MPC-H exhibited a decrease in the bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme adsorption of approximately 40-70% and 44-65%, respectively, relative to those of control hydrogel without MPC monomer. The results presented herein demonstrate the potential of expending biocompatible monomers such as HEMA and MPC to efficiently generate a biomaterial that possesses both bio-membrane mimicking character and protein and bacterial resistant properties for various industrial and biomedical applications.

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