The GO coatings are reportedly biocompatible and remove background fluorescence from non-specifically bound dyes such as in live cell imaging. They can also be manufactured to cover different shapes and sizes of slides.
Other applications include imaging auto-fluorescent proteins to remove background fluorescence and lining of flow cells in flow cytometry to reduce background signal from non-specific dye binding.
Dr Waigh added: “The GO layer is followed by a polymer coating to adjust the distance between the GO and the sample. The GO quenches fluorescence for any non-specifically bound dye while the polymer layer allows the stained or labelled sample to fluoresce. The quenching of non-specifically bound fluorophores means the GO coated slides are able to eliminate background fluorescence. This technology therefore greatly enhances the contrast and resolution of the microscopy images. The GO layer has already been tested with a range of regularly used fluorescent stains and calculations show that it will work for all dyes.”
The University of Manchester’s technology transfer office, UMI3 Ltd, is seeking to license or assign the technology to microscopy equipment manufacturers, companies working in fluorescence microscopy, life sciences diagnostics companies, scientific instrument manufacturers and optical slide manufacturers.