title: Multicolour synthesis in lanthanide-doped nanocrystals through cation exchange in water.
abstract: Meeting the high demand for lanthanide-doped luminescent nanocrystals across a broad range of fields hinges upon the development of a robust synthetic protocol that provides rapid, just-in-time nanocrystal preparation. However, to date, almost all lanthanide-doped luminescent nanomaterials have relied on direct synthesis requiring stringent controls over crystal nucleation and growth at elevated temperatures. Here we demonstrate the use of a cation exchange strategy for expeditiously accessing large classes of such nanocrystals. By combining the process of cation exchange with energy migration, the luminescence properties of the nanocrystals can be easily tuned while preserving the size, morphology and crystal phase of the initial nanocrystal template. This post-synthesis strategy enables us to achieve upconversion luminescence in Ce3+and Mn2+-activated hexagonal-phased nanocrystals, opening a gateway towards applications ranging from chemical sensing to anti-counterfeiting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore.
authors.forename: Sanyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore 117602, Singapore.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics &Institute of Advanced Materials, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China.
authors.forename: Zhongfu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Advanced Membrane and Porous Materials Center, Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Yihan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore.
authors.forename: Liangliang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Advanced Membrane and Porous Materials Center, Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1462-1118
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics &Institute of Advanced Materials, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China.|Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays &Institute of Advanced Materials, Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore.|Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore 117602, Singapore.|SZU-NUS Collaborative Innovation Center for Optoelectronic Science &Technology, Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
authors.forename: Xiaogang
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2517-5790
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu