title: Establishing the Structural Integrity of Core-Shell Nanoparticles against Elemental Migration using Luminescent Lanthanide Probes.
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.
authors: 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).
authors: Bing
authors: B
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR (China).
authors: Dengfeng
authors: D
authors: Peng
authors: Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR (China).
authors: Xian
authors: X
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China).
authors: Xvsheng
authors: X
authors: Qiao
authors: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China).
authors: Xianping
authors: X
authors: Fan
authors: Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong SAR (China). fwang24@cityu.edu.hk.|City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057 (China). fwang24@cityu.edu.hk.
authors: Feng
authors: F
authors: Wang
mesh_terms: D004058:Diffusion; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007477:Ions / Q000737:chemistry; D028581:Lanthanoid Series Elements / Q000737:chemistry*; D049449:Luminescence; D049408:Luminescent Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D028581:Lanthanoid Series Elements; D049408:Luminescent Agents
keywords: core-shell nanoparticles; electron microscopy; energy transfer; lanthanides; photophysics