Rare‐Earth Nanoparticles with Enhanced Upconversion Emission and Suppressed Rare‐Earth‐Ion Leakage

• DOI: 10.1002/chem.201103485
• Publication Date: 2012-04-04T19:53:23Z
• Authors: Ye‐Fu Wang; Ling‐Dong Sun; Jia‐Wen Xiao; Wei Feng; Jia‐Cai Zhou; Jie Shen; Chun‐Hua Yan
• Keywords: Photon Upconversion; Emission intensity

Upconversion emissions from rare-earth nanoparticles have attracted much interest as potential biolabels, for which small particle size and high emission intensity are both desired. Herein we report a facile way to achieve NaYF(4):Yb,Er@CaF(2) (NPs) with (10-13 nm) highly enhanced (ca. 300 times) upconversion compared the pristine NPs. The CaF(2) shell protects ions leaking, when exposed buffer solution, ensures biological safety bioprobe applications. With NPs, HeLa cells were imaged low background interference.