Properties of fluorescent organic NPs discussed in this work with some examples of dyes and QDs^a.

Composition	NPs diameter (nm)	Dye content (wt%)	λ abs (nm)	λ em (nm)	QY (%)	B (M−1 cm−1)	B V (M−1 m−1 nm−3)	Singe NP brightness	Ref.
Molecular organic dyes
Rhodamine 6G			530	552	90	1.0 × 105	1.0 × 105		31
Quantum dots
QD-585				585	60	1.8 × 105 b
QD-605				605	52	3.0 × 105 c			54
QD-705				705	49	1.0 × 106 c			54
Conjugated polymer NPs
MEH-PPV	15	100	485	590	1	1.2 × 106	651		55
PFBT	15	100	450	545	7	5.1 × 105	2900		55
PFBT	10	100	450	545	30	3 × 106	5700	30 × QD-565	56
PFPV	15	100	445	510	8	1.2 × 107	6520		55
PFBT-DBSOC6 10-COOH	23	50	455	712	15	1.1 × 107	1760	2 × QD-705	57
PF-TC6FQ-BODIPY	26	100	495	723	33	1.7 × 107	1954	3 × QD-705	58 and 59
Pttc-TFQ-BODIPY	28	100	490	724	51	5.1 × 107	4480	7 × QD-705	60
PF-TC6FQ	21	100	493	652	47	2.4 × 107	5070	8 × QD-655	61
PFDBT5–PFBT	15	80	450	650	56	1.6 × 107	9500	15 × QD-655	42
PFGBDP/PFDHTBT–BDP720	31	100	528	721	42	1.8 × 108	11 300	83 × QD-705	62
Aggregation-induced emission NPs
TPETPAFN	33	—	510	670	25	1.1 × 107	560	10 × QD-655	63
BTPEBT	30	33	422	547	63	3.5 × 107	1980		64
BTPEBT-V2	29	40	418	547	62	2.8 × 107	2870		65
BTPEBD	32	33	436	574	90	5.3 × 107	3100		66
PTZ–BT–TPA	100	33	483	656	39	2.4 × 109	4610		67
DTPA–TBZ	50	33	652	929	11	4.0 × 107	614		68
NPs based on conventional dyes
Nile red/PS	100	0.70	570	635	23	7 × 107	134		69
DiD/PLGA	66	0.72	650	667	21	1.3 × 107	84		70
NPs based on dyes bearing bulky side groups
Mes-BODIPY/PS	16	3.5	526	540	77	5.1 × 106	2300		71
BODIPY/PS-PEG	60	1.3	529	544	35	1.4 × 108	470		72
BDP4–PEG(1000)–PMAO	14	18	532	560	60	2.5 × 106	1740	5 × QD-585	73
PDI-Cl/co-polymerized	40	2.4	520	550	50	1.0 × 107	310		74
LR/PLGA	38	5.0	575	605	50	7.5 × 106	261	18 × QD-585	75
NPs based on charged dyes with bulky counterions
R12/F5-TPB	14	100	560	580	32	2.7 × 107	18 700		76
R12/F12-TPB	19	100	560	580	60	6.8 × 107	19 100	45 × QD-585	76
R18/F5-TPB/PLGA	40	5	560	580	20	1.8 × 107	600	6 × QD-605	33
R18/F5-TPB/PMMA-MA	15	5	560	580	60	3.0 × 106	1600	10 × QD-585	77
R18/F5-TPB/PMMA-MA	34	23	560	580	31	8.9 × 107	4330	100 × QD-585	24
R18/F5-TPB/PCL	33	23	560	580	34	8.9 × 107	4730		24
R18/F5-TPB/PMMA-N3	40	23	560	580	46	1.9 × 108	5790	100 × QD-605	35
R18/F5-TPB/PEMA-N3	20	33	560	580	52	3.9 × 107	9480	87 × Q-605	35
BlueCy/TPB/PMMA-MA	40	12	425	475	17.3	2.3 × 107	687	70 × QD-525	78
R6G-C18/F12-TPB/PMMA-N3	44	250 mM	530	570	23	1.1 × 108	2490		79
Cy5/F12TPB/PEMA-N3	16	23	652	682	42	9.7 × 106	4530	22 × QD-705	54
PhSP18/F5-TPB/PMMA-MA	40	29	507	675	40	1.2 × 107	3840	50 × QD-605	80
DiI/TPB/lipid droplets	87	8	553	575	14	2.5 × 108	725		81
Cyanostar	16	—	560	580	30	1.5 × 107	5000d	20 × FS	82

^a B and B_V are brightness and per-volume brightness of NPs estimated based on eqn (5) and (9) or (11), respectively. For rhodamine 6G we assume the volume of the molecule of 1 nm³. Single NP brightness is experimental value obtained from single-particle microscopy measurements. The brightness of QD-685, QD-605 and QD-705 was estimated for the following excitation wavelengths: 488.

^b532.

^c532 (c) nm, respectively.

^dData from ref. 82.