LAUSR

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a non-invasive characterization method for studying molecular structures and dynamics, providing high spatial resolution at nanometer scale. Over the past decades, FRET-based measurements have been developed and widely implemented in synthetic polymer systems for understanding and detecting a variety of nanoscale phenomena, enabling significant advances in polymer science. In this review, the basic principles of fluorescence and FRET are briefly discussed. We highlight several representative research areas, where FRET spectroscopy and imaging can be employed to reveal polymer morphology and kinetics. These examples include understanding polymer micelle formation and stability, detecting guest molecule release from polymer host, characterizing supramolecular assembly, imaging composite interfaces, and determining polymer chain conformations and their diffusion kinetics. Finally, we provide a perspective on the opportunities of FRET-based measurements for further allowing their greater contributions in this exciting area. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.