Volume 127, Issue 43 pp. 12979-12981
Zuschrift

Establishing the Structural Integrity of Core–Shell Nanoparticles against Elemental Migration using Luminescent Lanthanide Probes

Bing Chen

Bing Chen

Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR (China)

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

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Dr. Dengfeng Peng

Dr. Dengfeng Peng

Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR (China)

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Xian Chen

Xian Chen

Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR (China)

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Prof. Xvsheng Qiao

Prof. Xvsheng Qiao

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

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Prof. Xianping Fan

Prof. Xianping Fan

State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

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Prof. Feng Wang

Corresponding Author

Prof. Feng Wang

Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR (China)

City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057 (China)

Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR (China)Search for more papers by this author
First published: 28 August 2015
Citations: 2

Abstract

Core–shell structured nanoparticles are increasingly used to host luminescent lanthanide ions but the structural integrity of these nanoparticles still lacks sufficient understanding. Herein, we present a new approach to detect the diffusion of dopant ions in core–shell nanostructures using luminescent lanthanide probes whose emission profile and luminescence lifetime are sensitive to the chemical environment. We show that dopant ions in solution-synthesized core–shell nanoparticles are firmly confined in the designed locations. However, annealing at certain temperatures (greater than circa 350 °C) promotes diffusion of the dopant ions and leads to degradation of the integrity of the nanoparticles. These insights into core–shell nanostructures should enhance our ability to understand and use lanthanide-doped luminescent nanoparticles.

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