Issue 46, 2017

Unravelling the energy transfer of Er3+-self-sensitized upconversion in Er3+–Yb3+–Er3+ clustered core@shell nanoparticles

Abstract

Unravelling upconversion (UC) energy transfer mechanisms is significant for designing novel efficient anti-Stokes phosphors. We have studied the correlation of different lanthanide dopants within Er3+-self-sensitized core@shell upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). Here, our focus will be on high-concentration dopants that are able to sufficiently produce the clustering effect, especially within the interplay between Er3+ and Yb3+. We demonstrate that whatever the amount of the self-sensitizer (e.g., Er3+), abnormal absorption enhancement will occur as long as Yb3+ clusters are present. This effect originates from the substantial energy transfer between Yb3+–Yb3+ clusters despite the increased energy transfer from Yb3+ to Er3+. Therefore, the energy transfer efficiency is still constrained. However, we conversely used one of the aforementioned quench-paths of UC energy transfer to easily transfer the energy from the in-shell shell layer to the in-core area with the assistance of the energy potential reservoir, which was given by the homogeneous core@shell band offset at the interface region. Indirectly, we actualize the Er3+ UC luminescence with self-sensitization through an extended energy transfer path. This work provides a solid support and analytic theory for unraveling the energy transfer mechanism from recent works on Er3+ self-sensitized UC luminescence.

Graphical abstract: Unravelling the energy transfer of Er3+-self-sensitized upconversion in Er3+–Yb3+–Er3+ clustered core@shell nanoparticles

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Sept. 2017
Accepted
09 Nov. 2017
First published
21 Nov. 2017

Nanoscale, 2017,9, 18490-18497

Unravelling the energy transfer of Er3+-self-sensitized upconversion in Er3+–Yb3+–Er3+ clustered core@shell nanoparticles

B. Huang, M. Sun, A. W. Dougherty, H. Dong, Y. Xu, L. Sun and C. Yan, Nanoscale, 2017, 9, 18490 DOI: 10.1039/C7NR06729A

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