Issue 12, 2022

Simultaneous ultraviolet-C and near-infrared enhancement in heterogeneous lanthanide nanocrystals

Abstract

Lanthanide-doped nanocrystals that simultaneously convert near-infrared (NIR) irradiation into emission of shorter (ultraviolet-C, UVC) and longer wavelengths (NIR) offer many exciting opportunities for application in drug release, photodynamic therapy, deep-tissue bioimaging, and solid-state lasing. However, a formidable challenge is the development of lanthanide-doped nanocrystals with efficient UVC and NIR emissions simultaneously due to their low conversion efficiency. Here, we report a dye-sensitized heterogeneous core–multishell architecture with enhanced UVC emission and NIR emission under 793 nm excitation. This nanocrystal design efficiently suppresses energy trapping induced by interior lattice defects and promotes upconverted UVC emission from Gd3+. Moreover, a significant downshifting emission from Yb3+ at 980 nm was also observed owing to an efficient energy transfer from Nd3+ to Yb3+. Furthermore, by taking advantage of ICG sensitization, we realized a largely enhanced emission from the UVC to NIR spectral region. This study provides a mechanistic understanding of the upconversion and downshifting processes within a heterogeneous architecture while offering exciting opportunities for important biological and energy applications.

Graphical abstract: Simultaneous ultraviolet-C and near-infrared enhancement in heterogeneous lanthanide nanocrystals

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Nov 2021
Accepted
23 Feb 2022
First published
23 Feb 2022

Nanoscale, 2022,14, 4595-4603

Simultaneous ultraviolet-C and near-infrared enhancement in heterogeneous lanthanide nanocrystals

Y. Liu, M. Zhou, M. Zhou, H. Wei, Y. Su and Q. Su, Nanoscale, 2022, 14, 4595 DOI: 10.1039/D1NR07329J

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