title: Thermometry at the nanoscale.
abstract: Non-invasive precise thermometers working at the nanoscale with high spatial resolution, where the conventional methods are ineffective, have emerged over the last couple of years as a very active field of research. This has been strongly stimulated by the numerous challenging requests arising from nanotechnology and biomedicine. This critical review offers a general overview of recent examples of luminescent and non-luminescent thermometers working at nanometric scale. Luminescent thermometers encompass organic dyes, QDs and Ln(3+)ions as thermal probes, as well as more complex thermometric systems formed by polymer and organic-inorganic hybrid matrices encapsulating these emitting centres. Non-luminescent thermometers comprise of scanning thermal microscopy, nanolithography thermometry, carbon nanotube thermometry and biomaterials thermometry. Emphasis has been put on ratiometric examples reporting spatial resolution lower than 1 micron, as, for instance, intracellular thermometers based on organic dyes, thermoresponsive polymers, mesoporous silica NPs, QDs, and Ln(3+)-based up-converting NPs and β-diketonate complexes. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in the development for highly sensitive ratiometric thermometers operating at the physiological temperature range with submicron spatial resolution.
authors: Department of Physics, CICECO, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. carlos.brites@ua.pt
authors: Carlos D S
authors: CD
authors: Brites
authors: Patricia P
authors: PP
authors: Lima
authors: Nuno J O
authors: NJ
authors: Silva
authors: Angel
authors: A
authors: Millán
authors: Vitor S
authors: VS
authors: Amaral
authors: Fernando
authors: F
authors: Palacio
authors: Luís D
authors: LD
authors: Carlos