TY - JOUR A1 - Bastian, Philipp U. A1 - Robel, Nathalie A1 - Schmidt, Peter A1 - Schrumpf, Tim A1 - Günter, Christina A1 - Roddatis, Vladimir A1 - Kumke, Michael U. T1 - Resonance energy transfer to track the motion of lanthanide ions BT - what drives the intermixing in core-shell upconverting nanoparticles? JF - Biosensors : open access journal N2 - The imagination of clearly separated core-shell structures is already outdated by the fact, that the nanoparticle core-shell structures remain in terms of efficiency behind their respective bulk material due to intermixing between core and shell dopant ions. In order to optimize the photoluminescence of core-shell UCNP the intermixing should be as small as possible and therefore, key parameters of this process need to be identified. In the present work the Ln(III) ion migration in the host lattices NaYF4 and NaGdF4 was monitored. These investigations have been performed by laser spectroscopy with help of lanthanide resonance energy transfer (LRET) between Eu(III) as donor and Pr(III) or Nd(III) as acceptor. The LRET is evaluated based on the Forster theory. The findings corroborate the literature and point out the migration of ions in the host lattices. Based on the introduced LRET model, the acceptor concentration in the surrounding of one donor depends clearly on the design of the applied core-shell-shell nanoparticles. In general, thinner intermediate insulating shells lead to higher acceptor concentration, stronger quenching of the Eu(III) donor and subsequently stronger sensitization of the Pr(III) or the Nd(III) acceptors. The choice of the host lattice as well as of the synthesis temperature are parameters to be considered for the intermixing process. KW - upconversion nanoparticles KW - lanthanoid migration KW - lanthanides KW - core-shell KW - energy transfer Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11120515 SN - 2079-6374 VL - 11 IS - 12 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hesse, Julia A1 - Klier, Dennis Tobias A1 - Sgarzi, Massimo A1 - Nsubuga, Anne A1 - Bauer, Christoph A1 - Grenzer, Joerg A1 - Hübner, Rene A1 - Wislicenus, Marcus A1 - Joshi, Tanmaya A1 - Kumke, Michael Uwe A1 - Stephan, Holger T1 - Rapid Synthesis of Sub-10nm Hexagonal NaYF4-Based Upconverting Nanoparticles using Therminol((R))66 JF - ChemistryOpen : including thesis treasury N2 - We report a simple one-pot method for the rapid preparation of sub-10nm pure hexagonal (-phase) NaYF4-based upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs). Using Therminol((R))66 as a co-solvent, monodisperse UCNPs could be obtained in unusually short reaction times. By varying the reaction time and reaction temperature, it was possible to control precisely the particle size and crystalline phase of the UCNPs. The upconversion (UC) luminescence properties of the nanocrystals were tuned by varying the concentrations of the dopants (Nd3+ and Yb3+ sensitizer ions and Er3+ activator ions). The size and phase-purity of the as-synthesized core and core-shell nanocrystals were assessed by using complementary transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, and small-angle X-ray scattering studies. In-depth photophysical evaluation of the UCNPs was pursued by using steady-state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. An enhancement in the UC intensity was observed if the nanocrystals, doped with optimized concentrations of lanthanide sensitizer/activator ions, were further coated with an inert/active shell. This was attributed to the suppression of surface-related luminescence quenching effects. KW - core-shell materials KW - lanthanides KW - nanostructures KW - photoluminescence KW - upconversion Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/open.201700186 SN - 2191-1363 VL - 7 IS - 2 SP - 159 EP - 168 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER -