Kaur Mannu, Maurizio Steven L, Mandl Gabrielle A, Capobianco John A
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Centre for NanoScience Research, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St W., Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6, Canada.
Nanoscale. 2023 Aug 25;15(33):13583-13594. doi: 10.1039/d3nr02845c.
Dye sensitization is a promising approach to enhance the luminescence of lanthanide-doped upconverting nanoparticles. However, the poor photostability of near-infrared dyes hampers their use in practical applications. To address this, commercial IR820 was modified for improved photostability and covalently bonded to amine-functionalized silica-coated LnUCNPs. Two methods of covalent linking were investigated: linking the dye to the surface of the silica shell, and embedding the dye within the silica shell. The photostability of the dyes when embedded in the silica shell exhibited upconversion emissions from NaGdF:Er,Yb/NaGdF:Yb nanoparticles for over four hours of continuous excitation with no change in intensity. To highlight this improvement, the photostable dye-embedded system was successfully utilized for Fenton-type photocatalysis, emphasizing its potential for practical applications. Overall, this study presents a facile strategy to circumvent the overlooked limitations associated with photodegradation, opening up new possibilities for the use of dye-sensitized lanthanide-doped upconverting nanoparticles in a range of fields.
染料敏化是增强镧系掺杂上转换纳米颗粒发光的一种很有前景的方法。然而，近红外染料较差的光稳定性阻碍了它们在实际应用中的使用。为了解决这个问题，对商用IR820进行了改性以提高其光稳定性，并将其共价键合到胺功能化的二氧化硅包覆的镧系上转换纳米颗粒（LnUCNPs）上。研究了两种共价连接方法：将染料连接到二氧化硅壳表面，以及将染料嵌入二氧化硅壳内。当染料嵌入二氧化硅壳中时，其光稳定性表现为在连续激发四个多小时的情况下，NaGdF:Er,Yb/NaGdF:Yb纳米颗粒的上转换发射强度没有变化。为了突出这种改进，光稳定的染料嵌入系统成功地用于芬顿型光催化，强调了其在实际应用中的潜力。总的来说，这项研究提出了一种简便的策略来规避与光降解相关的被忽视的局限性，为染料敏化的镧系掺杂上转换纳米颗粒在一系列领域的应用开辟了新的可能性。
