Issue 22, 2015

Functional up-converting SrTiO3:Er3+/Yb3+ nanoparticles: structural features, particle size, colour tuning and in vitro RBC cytotoxicity

Abstract

SrTiO3 nanoparticles co-doped with a broad concentration range of Er3+ and Yb3+ ions were fabricated using the citric route as a function of annealing temperatures of 500–1000 °C. The effect of a broad co-dopant concentration range and sintering temperature on structural and up-conversion properties was investigated in detail by X-ray diffraction techniques and optical spectroscopy. The TEM technique was used to estimate the mean particle size, which was around 30 nm for the inorganic product annealed at 600 °C. Up-conversion emission color tuning was achieved by particle size control. Power dependence of the green and red emissions was found to be a result of temperature determination in the operating range of SrTiO3 nanoparticles and a candidate for the fast and local microscopic heating and heat release induced by IR irradiation. The color changed from white–red–yellow–green upon an increase of sintering temperature, inducing changes in the surface-to-volume ratio and the number of optically active ions in particle surface regions. The cytotoxic activity of nanoparticles on human red blood cells was investigated, showing no harmful effects up to a particle concentration of 0.1 mg ml−1. The cytotoxic response of a colloidal suspension of nanoparticles to RBC cells was connected with the strong affinity of SrTiO3 particles to the cell membranes, blocking the transport of important biological solutes.

Graphical abstract: Functional up-converting SrTiO3:Er3+/Yb3+ nanoparticles: structural features, particle size, colour tuning and in vitro RBC cytotoxicity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Feb 2015
Accepted
23 Apr 2015
First published
24 Apr 2015

Dalton Trans., 2015,44, 10267-10280

Author version available

Functional up-converting SrTiO3:Er3+/Yb3+ nanoparticles: structural features, particle size, colour tuning and in vitro RBC cytotoxicity

R. Pazik, M. Maczka, M. Malecka, L. Marciniak, A. Ekner-Grzyb, L. Mrowczynska and R. J. Wiglusz, Dalton Trans., 2015, 44, 10267 DOI: 10.1039/C5DT00671F

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