Effect of amphiphilic polymers and sodium alginate on the activity of methylene blue in photogeneration of singlet oxygen 1О2

Abstract

Abstract The influence of amphiphilic polymers (APs): poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone, polyethylene glycol and pluronics F127, F108, as well as sodium alginate (SA) on the activity of methylene blue (MB) in the photogeneration of singlet oxygen 1О2, specifically, in a model photooxidation reaction of tryptophan in water was studied. It was shown that in the presence of all the above-mentioned AP, an increase in the effective rate constant (k eff) of tryptophan photooxidation is observed. It was suggested that the observed effect is associated with the interaction of MB with APs, which leads to disaggregation of dye associates. Such disaggregation leads to an increase in the optical density and intensity of MB luminescence. It was also shown that the photocatalytic activity of MB decreases by a factor of 1.5–3.5 in the presence of SA, which is due to the ionic interaction of the cationic MB with polyanionic SA. The interaction of MB with polysaccharide is confirmed by changes in the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the dye. The introduction of APs into a solution containing MB and SA prevents the interaction between MB and polysaccharide, which leads to an increase in the k eff values of tryptophan photooxidation in the presence of MB-AP-SA system, as well as to an increase in the optical density and fluorescence intensity of MB when AP and SA are added. The existence of weak interactions between the hydrophobic groups of MB molecules and the AP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) is also evidenced by the data obtained through 1H-NMR spectroscopy and the degree of MB fluorescence anisotropy. The AFM method shows the change in the surface structure of a thin film obtained by evaporating an aqueous solution of MB-F108-SA compared to the corresponding structure of a film obtained by evaporating an aqueous solution of MB-SA. MB-AP and MB-AP-SA systems may be promising for practical application in the aPDT treatment of chronic microbial superficial infections.