Chen Jiaye, Liang Liangliang, Tan Shengdong, Xi Shibo, Lin Chun-Ho, Wu Tom, He Qian, Liu Xiaogang
Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 117543, Singapore.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117575, Singapore.
Nano Lett. 2023 Aug 9;23(15):7221-7227. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c01621. Epub 2023 Jun 20.
Vacancies pose a major challenge in the production of high-quality crystals, particularly at the nanoscale. To address this problem, we report a convenient strategy that involves volumetric lattice reconstruction and dynamic metal complex docking to produce ultrasmall (10 nm) and bright core-shell upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). This strategy involves the formation of lanthanide ion-oleic acid complexes during postannealing in solution, which effectively removes vacancies in nanocrystals. The removal of vacancies restricts the diffusion of lanthanide sensitizers and emitters within the core, thus minimizing surface quenching. Our volumetric lattice reconstruction strategy provides fundamental insights into lattice engineering and presents a general strategy for purifying functional nanocrystals for applications in fields such as single-molecule tracking, quantum optics, energy conversion, and others.
空位在高质量晶体的制备中构成了重大挑战，尤其是在纳米尺度上。为了解决这个问题，我们报告了一种简便的策略，该策略涉及体积晶格重构和动态金属配合物对接，以制备超小（10纳米）且明亮的核壳型上转换纳米粒子（UCNPs）。此策略包括在溶液中退火后形成镧系离子 - 油酸配合物，这能有效去除纳米晶体中的空位。空位的去除限制了镧系敏化剂和发光剂在核内的扩散，从而使表面猝灭最小化。我们的体积晶格重构策略为晶格工程提供了基本见解，并为纯化功能纳米晶体提出了一种通用策略，可应用于单分子追踪、量子光学、能量转换等领域。
