Electrospun BODIPY-polycaprolactone films for formation of reactive oxygen species

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) are advanced strategies that leverage photosensitizers (PS) to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), targeting cancer cells and microorganisms. BODIPY-based photosensitizers are of particular interest due to their exceptional photophysical properties, including high singlet oxygen quantum yields, stability, and tunability. Despite these advantages, their application in aPDI remains underexplored, especially in the context of polymeric materials fabricated via electrospinning. This study investigates the incorporation of halogenated BODIPY compounds into polymeric matrices to create functionalized films for singlet oxygen (O-1(2)) generation. Polycaprolactone (PCL), polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), and polylactic acid (PLA) were employed as polymer substrates, utilizing electrospinning to produce BODIPY containing films. The films were characterized using FE-SEM, XRD and XPS methods. One of the resulting materials, PCL-Bod, was found to have high potential in generating singlet oxygen, offering insights into the integration of advanced photosensitizers with versatile polymeric platforms. By employing this film, in vitro studies have shown that the viabilities of the gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa were decreased by 99.8 % (2.6 log reduction) through light irradiation.