Issue 24, 2018

Large-scale synthesis of uniform lanthanide-doped NaREF4 upconversion/downshifting nanoprobes for bioapplications

Abstract

Lanthanide (Ln3+)-doped NaREF4 (RE = rare earth) nanocrystals (NCs) are one of the most widely studied upconversion and downshifting luminescent nanoprobes. However, the size and optical performance of the Ln3+-doped NaREF4 NCs produced by the available lab-scale synthesis may vary from batch to batch, which inevitably limits their practical bioapplications. Herein, we report the synthesis of uniform Ln3+-doped NaREF4 NCs via a facile solid–liquid-thermal-decomposition (SLTD) method by directly employing NaHF2 powder as a fluoride and sodium precursor. The proposed SLTD strategy is easy to perform, time-saving and cost-effective, making it ideal for scale-up syntheses. Particularly, over 63 g of β-NaGdF4:Yb,Er@NaYF4 core/shell NCs with narrow size variation (<7%) were synthesized via a one-pot reaction. By virtue of their superior upconversion and downshifting luminescence, we employed the synthesized core/shell nanoprobes for the in vitro detection of prostate-specific antigen with a limit of detection down to 1.8 ng mL−1, and for in vivo near-infrared imaging with a high signal-to-noise ratio of 12. These findings may pave the way for the commercialization of Ln3+-doped nanoprobes in bioassay kits for versatile clinical applications.

Graphical abstract: Large-scale synthesis of uniform lanthanide-doped NaREF4 upconversion/downshifting nanoprobes for bioapplications

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 4 2018
Accepted
16 5 2018
First published
17 5 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 11477-11484

Large-scale synthesis of uniform lanthanide-doped NaREF4 upconversion/downshifting nanoprobes for bioapplications

W. You, D. Tu, W. Zheng, X. Shang, X. Song, S. Zhou, Y. Liu, R. Li and X. Chen, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 11477 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR03252A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements