Article Title

Temperature modulation of concentration quenching in lanthanide-doped nanoparticles for enhanced upconversion luminescence

Authors

Luoyuan Li, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Ningjiu Zhao, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China
Limin Fu, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Jing Zhou, Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
Xicheng Ai, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Jianping Zhang, Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China

Keywords

upconversion luminescence, lanthanide-doped nanoparticle, temperature modulation, concentration quenching, energy transfer

Abstract

ABSTRACT The doping concentration of lanthanide ions is important for manipulating the luminescence properties of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). However, the serious concentration quenching in highly doped UCNPs remains a vital restriction for further enhanced upconversion luminescence (UCL). Herein, we examined the effect of temperature on the concentration quenching of rare-earth UCNPs, an issue that has been overlooked, and we show that it is significant for biomedical or optical applications of UCNPs. In this work, we prepared a series of UCNPs by doping Er3+ luminescent centers at different concentrations in a NaLuF4:Yb3+ matrix. At room temperature (298 K), steady-state photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy showed substantial concentration quenching of the Er3+ emission with increasing doping concentrations. However, the concentration quenching effect was no longer effective at lower temperatures. Kinetic curves obtained from time-resolved PL spectroscopy further showed that the concentration quenching dynamics were vitally altered in the cryogenic temperature region, i.e., below 160 K. Our work on the temperature-switchable concentration quenching mechanism may shed light on improving UCL properties, promoting their practical applications.

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1828-4

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Luoyuan Li,Ningjiu Zhao,Limin Fu,Jing Zhou,Xicheng Ai,Jianping Zhang, Temperature modulation of concentration quenching in lanthanide-doped nanoparticles for enhanced upconversion luminescence. NanoRes.2018, 11(4): 2104–2115