Hydrophilic rare-earth up-conversion nanophosphors(UCNPs)with small sizes and a strong up-conversion luminescence have attracted much interest.Herein the simultaneous control of morphologies and the up-conversion lumi...Hydrophilic rare-earth up-conversion nanophosphors(UCNPs)with small sizes and a strong up-conversion luminescence have attracted much interest.Herein the simultaneous control of morphologies and the up-conversion luminescence intensities was reported for NaYF_(4)∶Yb/Er nanophosphors by a facile hydrothermal procedure with different surfactants.With the change of the surfactants from polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP)to sodium citrate(CIT),edetate disodium(EDTA)or sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate(SDBS),the morphology of NaYF_(4)∶Yb/Er nanophosphors transformed from nanoparticles with a diameter of about 70.0 nm to hexagonal nanoblocks with a thickness of about 125.0 nm and a length of about 240.0 nm,nanorods with a diameter of about 700.0 nm and a length of about 2.6μm,or nanowires with a diameter of 250.0 nm and a length of about 3.2μm.Simultaneously,their up-conversion luminescence intensity went down gradually under laser irradiation at a wavelength of 980 nm due to the increase of photobleaching.PVP-capped NaYF_(4)∶Yb/Er nanoparticles exhibited the smallest size and the strongest up-conversion luminescence intensity.Biological experiment results revealed that NaYF_(4)∶Yb/Er nanophosphors exhibited a high biocompatibility and could be used as biological labels with a perfect signal-to-noise ratio for cancer cell imaging.展开更多
In the most popular NaYF_(4):Yb/Er upconversion nanoparticles(UCNPs),the red emission is attributed to four potential excitation routes encompassing two-and threephoton excitation processes.Consequently,this red emiss...In the most popular NaYF_(4):Yb/Er upconversion nanoparticles(UCNPs),the red emission is attributed to four potential excitation routes encompassing two-and threephoton excitation processes.Consequently,this red emission typically exhibits a super-quadratic dependency on near-infrared(NIR)excitation intensity,with the nonlinear order n being dependent on the individual contributions(Cis)of these four excitation routes.Notably,the Cis values are not constant but significantly impacted by the surface quenching of the UCNPs,leading to a decrease in the n value.However,a quantitative assessment of these variable Cis has not been undertaken,hindering a comprehensive understanding of the quenching effect on the UC mechanisms.In this work,we prepare four NaYF_(4):Yb/Er nanocrystal samples with varying degrees of surface quenching,achieving through the modulation of particle size and core-shell structure.We quantitatively evaluate the Cis values and identify the primary excitation route responsible for the red emission.Our results reveal that the contribution of three-photon excitation increases from 7%in the 30 nm bare core to 74%in 90 nm core with shell at an excitation intensity of 200 mW cm^(−2).This observation highlights the impact of surface quenching suppression.Furthermore,we discover that the quenching effect operates by reducing the lifetimes of the Yb^(3+)2F_(5/2)and Er^(3+)4S3/2 levels,while enhancing the NIR emission intensity ratio of the Er^(3+)4I_(13/2)→4I_(15/2)transition to the Yb^(3+)2F_(5/2)→2F_(7/2)transition.Our findings provide physical insights into the excitation mechanisms underlying the red UC emission in NaYF_(4):Yb/Er UCNPs.展开更多
基金Shanghai Academic Research Leader,China(No.20XD1420200)Shanghai Shuguang Program,China(No.18SG29)。
文摘Hydrophilic rare-earth up-conversion nanophosphors(UCNPs)with small sizes and a strong up-conversion luminescence have attracted much interest.Herein the simultaneous control of morphologies and the up-conversion luminescence intensities was reported for NaYF_(4)∶Yb/Er nanophosphors by a facile hydrothermal procedure with different surfactants.With the change of the surfactants from polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP)to sodium citrate(CIT),edetate disodium(EDTA)or sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate(SDBS),the morphology of NaYF_(4)∶Yb/Er nanophosphors transformed from nanoparticles with a diameter of about 70.0 nm to hexagonal nanoblocks with a thickness of about 125.0 nm and a length of about 240.0 nm,nanorods with a diameter of about 700.0 nm and a length of about 2.6μm,or nanowires with a diameter of 250.0 nm and a length of about 3.2μm.Simultaneously,their up-conversion luminescence intensity went down gradually under laser irradiation at a wavelength of 980 nm due to the increase of photobleaching.PVP-capped NaYF_(4)∶Yb/Er nanoparticles exhibited the smallest size and the strongest up-conversion luminescence intensity.Biological experiment results revealed that NaYF_(4)∶Yb/Er nanophosphors exhibited a high biocompatibility and could be used as biological labels with a perfect signal-to-noise ratio for cancer cell imaging.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11874055,U22A20139,11904361,and 52102192)the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province(SKL202302024,20210201024GX,20220101208JC,and 20230101123JC)+1 种基金the Independent Innovation Project on State Key Laboratory of Luminescence and Applications(SKLA-Z-2023-11)the Opening Project Key Laboratory of Transparent Opto-functional Inorganic Material,Chinese Academy of Sciences。
文摘In the most popular NaYF_(4):Yb/Er upconversion nanoparticles(UCNPs),the red emission is attributed to four potential excitation routes encompassing two-and threephoton excitation processes.Consequently,this red emission typically exhibits a super-quadratic dependency on near-infrared(NIR)excitation intensity,with the nonlinear order n being dependent on the individual contributions(Cis)of these four excitation routes.Notably,the Cis values are not constant but significantly impacted by the surface quenching of the UCNPs,leading to a decrease in the n value.However,a quantitative assessment of these variable Cis has not been undertaken,hindering a comprehensive understanding of the quenching effect on the UC mechanisms.In this work,we prepare four NaYF_(4):Yb/Er nanocrystal samples with varying degrees of surface quenching,achieving through the modulation of particle size and core-shell structure.We quantitatively evaluate the Cis values and identify the primary excitation route responsible for the red emission.Our results reveal that the contribution of three-photon excitation increases from 7%in the 30 nm bare core to 74%in 90 nm core with shell at an excitation intensity of 200 mW cm^(−2).This observation highlights the impact of surface quenching suppression.Furthermore,we discover that the quenching effect operates by reducing the lifetimes of the Yb^(3+)2F_(5/2)and Er^(3+)4S3/2 levels,while enhancing the NIR emission intensity ratio of the Er^(3+)4I_(13/2)→4I_(15/2)transition to the Yb^(3+)2F_(5/2)→2F_(7/2)transition.Our findings provide physical insights into the excitation mechanisms underlying the red UC emission in NaYF_(4):Yb/Er UCNPs.