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Bright, water-soluble CeF3 photo-, cathodo-, and X-ray luminescent nanoparticles

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Abstract

Bright, water-soluble CeF3 nanoparticles with small size and narrow size distribution have been synthesized using a simple co-precipitation method without any ligands. Size control of nanoparticles from 13 ± 2 to 9 ± 2 nm was achieved by varying the reaction time. Colloidal properties have been found to vary with pH and, independently, with dilution. The photoluminescence of the as-synthesized nanoparticles shows a highly photostable UV/Visible fluorescence band due to allowed 5d–4f transitions, also observed in the X-ray luminescence spectrum. This band is suitable for X-ray excitation of a range of photosensitizers. The photoluminescence quantum yield of nanoparticles was also determined to be 31 %. Using the measured fluorescence decay time of 25 ns, the radiative lifetime of Ce in CeF3 was found to be 80.6 ns. Both photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence emission are affected by the reaction time and measurement temperature. Electron-beam-induced defect annealing is also observed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Prof. Damian Gore and Mr. Russell Field, Macquarie University for their assistance with X-ray luminescence measurements. All fluorescence measurements were performed in Optical Characterization Facility, Linked Laboratory to AMMRF (Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility). S.C. acknowledges the support of the MQRES scholarship from Macquarie University. This work is partially supported by Australian Research Council (ARC) through its Centre of Excellence scheme (CE140100003) to E.M. G.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Nanoscale BioPhotonics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Sandhya Clement, Wei Deng, Krystyna Drozdowicz-Tomsia, Deming Liu & Ewa M. Goldys

  2. School of Physics and Advanced Materials, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Cameron Zachreson

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  1. Sandhya Clement
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  2. Wei Deng
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  3. Krystyna Drozdowicz-Tomsia
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  4. Deming Liu
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  5. Cameron Zachreson
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  6. Ewa M. Goldys
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Correspondence to Ewa M. Goldys.

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Clement, S., Deng, W., Drozdowicz-Tomsia, K. et al. Bright, water-soluble CeF3 photo-, cathodo-, and X-ray luminescent nanoparticles. J Nanopart Res 17, 7 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-014-2833-0

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