Article Title

Synthesis of gold/rare-earth-vanadate core/shell nanorods for integrating plasmon resonance and fluorescence

Authors

Jiahong Wang, Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Hao Huang, Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Daquan Zhang, Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Ming Chen, Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Yafang Zhang, Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Xuefeng Yu, Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nanomedicine, CAS Key Lab of Health Informatics, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
Li Zhou, Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Ququan Wang, Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures of the Ministry of Education and School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China Institute for Advanced Study, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China

Keywords

gold nanorods, rare-earth vanadates, core/shell heterostructures, ion exchange, fluorescence

Abstract

The nanoscale core/shell heterostructure is a particularly efficient motif to combine the promising properties of plasmonic materials and rare-earth compounds; however, there remain significant challenges in the synthetic control due to the large interfacial energy between these two intrinsically unmatched materials. Herein, we report a synthetic route to grow rare-earth-vanadate shells on gold nanorod (AuNR) cores. After modifying the AuNR surface with oleate through a surfactant exchange, well-packaged rare-earth oxide (e.g., Gd2O3:Eu) shells are grown on AuNRs as a result of the multiple roles of oleate. Furthermore, the composition of the shell has been altered from oxide to vanadate (GdVO4:Eu) using an anion exchange method. Owing to the carefully designed strategy, the AuNR cores maintain the morphology during the synthesis process; thus, the final Au/GdVO4:Eu core/shell NRs exhibit strong absorption bands and high photothermal efficiency. In addition, the Au/GdVO4:Eu NRs exhibit bright Eu3+ fluorescence with quantum yield as high as ~17%; bright Sm3+ and Dy3+ fluorescence can also be obtained by changing the lanthanide doping in the oxide formation. Owing to the attractive integration of the plasmonic and fluorescence properties, such core/shell heterostructures will find particular applications in a wide array of areas, from biomedicine to energy.

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0761-7

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Jiahong Wang,Hao Huang,Daquan Zhang,Ming Chen,Yafang Zhang,Xuefeng Yu,Li Zhou,Ququan Wang, Synthesis of gold/rare-earth-vanadate core/shell nanorods for integrating plasmon resonance and fluorescence. NanoRes.2015, 8(8): 2548–2561