title: A novel strategy to enhance the luminescence performance of NaGdF4:Ln(3+) nanocrystals.
abstract: Promoting excitation efficiency is a direct route to enhance the luminescence properties of lanthanide doped materials. Here, we describe a novel strategy to enhance the luminescence performance of NaGdF4:Ln(3+) (Ln = Tb, Eu, Dy) nanoparticles by surface modification with benzoate (BA) and 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) ligands via the sensitization of surface dopants. It was found that the surface ligands provide a new path for energy transfer to the activators due to the matching in energy levels between the two. Moreover, the overlap in excitation peaks for both Gd(3+) ions and ligands ensures the simultaneous energy transfer of Gd(3+)→ Ln(3+) and ligands → Ln(3+) under a single wavelength excitation. The obtained NaGdF4 nanocomposite was characterized in detail using XRD, FT-IR, TGA, SEM, and EDS. The luminescence performance of the surface modified NaGdF4:Ln(3+) nanoparticles was also optimized by tuning the loading amount of modified ligands. In addition, luminescence thermometry was realized by monitoring emission intensity at different temperatures.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, PR China. hpyou@ciac.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Baiqi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lü
authors.forename: Guixia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hongpeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: You