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High monodisperse nanospheres Gd2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ with strong upconversion emission fabricated by synergistic chemical method

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Abstract

Gd2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ monodisperse nanospheres with strong red color upconversion luminescence (UCL) and high re-dispersibility fabricated by synergistic chemical method, in presence of urea, adding polyol and followed by a subsequently step by step calcination are demonstrated. While the urea/RE ratio from 10/1 to 50/1 and the content change of polyethylene glycol varied, the size of GdOHCO3·H2O: Yb3+, Er3+ precursors increased from 200 nm to above 400 nm and remained the low standard deviation. The thermal convertion of GdOHCO3: Yb3+, Er3+ into Gd2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ by the multistep calcination between 650 and 1200 °C has accomplished to achieve the perfect spherical shape. The size of the resultant Gd2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ nanospheres has changed and controlled from 150 to 350 nm. It was found that the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) uprised consideringly the size, which further homogenized the shape as well as enhanced the re-dispersability and suspension stability of Gd2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ nanospheres. Gd2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ monospheres with high activator concentration show the strong UCL with extremely sharp strong peaks and possess intense red color emission. The UCL intensity was enhanced drastically when the calcination temperature increased from 650 to 1200 °C. The UCL properties of Gd2O3: 18%Yb3+, 2%Er3+ and Gd2O3: 7.5%Yb3+, 1.5%Er3+ as the typical nanophosphors have been studied to understand more the UCL process. Based on these advanced features, Gd2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ UCL nanospheres will open promising platform for application in biomedicine as well as toward to developing a single spherical particle nanosensor.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Institute of Materials Science, Duy Tan University, National Key Lab Electronic Materials and Devices, Graduate University of Science and Technology, and Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in supporting this research.

Funding

This work is funded by the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under grant number 103.03–2019.07.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Danang, 550000, Vietnam

    Tran Kim Anh

  2. Faculty of Natural Science, Duy Tan University, Danang, 550000, Vietnam

    Tran Kim Anh

  3. Institute of Materials Science, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Nguyen Thanh Huong, Pham Thi Lien & Le Quoc Minh

  4. Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Nguyen Thanh Huong, Do Thi Thao, Pham Thi Lien & Le Quoc Minh

  5. Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Do Thi Thao

  6. Thuyloi University, Hanoi, 100000, Vietnam

    Nguyen Van Nghia

  7. Department of Chemistry, Hanoi Medical University, 1 Ton That Tung, Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Ha Thi Phuong

  8. Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Okolna 2, 50-422, Wroclaw, Poland

    Robert Tomala

  9. Institute of Theoretical and Applied Research, Duy Tan University, Hanoi, 100000, Vietnam

    Le Quoc Minh

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  1. Tran Kim Anh
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Contributions

L. Q. Minh, T. K. Anh, and N. T. Huong planned and designed the scientific contents and experiments. T. K. Anh, N. T. Huong, P. T. Lien, N. V. Nghia, H. T. Phuong, D. T. Thao, and R. Tomala conducted most of the experiments. All authors contributed to data analysis and interpretation and discussion of the results. L. Q. Minh, T. K. Anh, N. T. Huong, and P. T. Lien contributed to writing the manuscript. All authors have approval to the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Le Quoc Minh.

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Anh, T.K., Huong, N.T., Thao, D.T. et al. High monodisperse nanospheres Gd2O3: Yb3+, Er3+ with strong upconversion emission fabricated by synergistic chemical method. J Nanopart Res 23, 264 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-021-05377-0

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