Issue 15, 2018

Confining excitation energy of Er3+-sensitized upconversion nanoparticles through introducing various energy trapping centers

Abstract

Luminescence concentration quenching significantly limits the upconversion (UC) performance of lanthanide-doped luminescent materials. Efficient confinement of the excitation energy in a lanthanide activator can alleviate the concentration quenching caused by cross-relaxation and energy migration to surface defects. In this work, a series of new energy trapping centers with varied migrating energy levels (2F5/2 of Yb3+, 3H5 of Tm3+, 5I6 of Ho3+, 7F6 of Eu3+, and 3F3 of Pr3+etc.) are introduced into NaErF4@NaYF4 nanoparticles. The results show that a great enhancement in Er3+ UC processes of converting multi-band NIR photons into visible emissions is achieved in NaErF4@NaYF4 after adding energy trapping centers. The energy level compatibility between Er3+ activators and the energy trapping centers determines the excitation energy confinement, energy-back-transfer efficiency and luminescence output. By incorporating the energy trapping center doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) into the TiO2 photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the photon–electron conversion efficiency of DSSCs increases from 6.82% to 7.86% due to the improved multi-band NIR photon harvest of the TiO2 photoanode with NaErF4: 10% Yb@NaYF4.

Graphical abstract: Confining excitation energy of Er3+-sensitized upconversion nanoparticles through introducing various energy trapping centers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Dec. 2017
Accepted
08 Febr. 2018
First published
10 Febr. 2018

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018,6, 3869-3875

Confining excitation energy of Er3+-sensitized upconversion nanoparticles through introducing various energy trapping centers

Y. Shang, S. Hao, W. Lv, T. Chen, L. Tian, Z. Lei and C. Yang, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018, 6, 3869 DOI: 10.1039/C7TC05742C

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