TY - JOUR A1 - Ahiboz, D. A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Manley, P. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Becker, C. T1 - Metasurface-Enhanced Photon Upconversion upon 1550 nm Excitation N2 - Photon upconversion upon 1550 nm excitation is of high relevance for applications in the third biological excitation window, for photovoltaics beyond current limitations, and enables appealing options in the field of glass Fiber telecommunications. Trivalent doped erbium ions (Er3+) are the material of choice for 1550 nm excited upconversion, however, they suffer from a low absorption cross-section and a low brightness. Therefore, the ability of Silicon metasurfaces to provide greatly enhanced electrical near-fields is employed to enable efficient photon upconversion even at low external Illumination conditions. Hexagonally shaped β-NaYF4:Er3+ nanoparticles are placed on large-area silicon metasurfaces designed to convert near-infrared (1550 nm) to visible light. More than 2400-fold enhanced photon upconversion luminescence is achieved by using this metasurface instead of a planar substrate. With the aid of optical simulations based on the finite-element method, this result is attributed to the coupling of the excitation source with metasurface resonances at appropriate incident angles. Analysis of the excitation power density dependence of upconversion luminescence and red-to-green-emission ratios enables the estimation of nanoscale near-field enhancement on the metasurface. The findings permit the significant reduction of required external excitation intensities for photon upconversion of 1550 nm light, opening perspectives in biophotonics, telecommunication, and photovoltaics. KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Upconversion nanoparticle KW - Lanthanide KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Sensor KW - Excitation power density KW - Single particle KW - Brightness KW - NIR KW - Mechanism KW - Single enhancement KW - SWIR KW - Method PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-537193 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202101285. SN - 2195-1071 VL - 9 IS - 24 SP - 2101285 PB - Wiley-VCH-GmbH AN - OPUS4-53719 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Amouroux, B. A1 - Eftekhari, A. A1 - Roux, C. A1 - Micheau, J. A1 - Roblin, P. A1 - Pasturel, M. A1 - Gauffre, F. A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Sliwa, M. A1 - Bouchet, A. A1 - Coudret, C. T1 - Synthesis and Emission Dynamics of Sub-3 nm Upconversion Nanoparticles N2 - Reducing the size of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) down to a few nm yields luminescent materials containing a very small number of emitters. Considering the bottom limit of one activator per particle ultrasmall UCNPs offer an unprecedented platform to study the contributions of the energy transfers at play in upconversion luminescence. Maintaining detectable emission despite the limited number of emitting ions and the high surface-to-volume ratio requires suitable particle architectures. Na(Gd-Yb)F4:Tm3+ emissive sub-3 nm diameter 𝜷-phase UCNPs are prepared using a gadolinium-rich composition in situ mixing of the precursors and a microwave high-temperature cycling sequence allowing precise control of the particle size and dispersity. These cores are coated with a NaGdF4 inert shell to minimize the deleterious influence of surface quenching (SQ). Time-resolved luminescence measurements combining standard NIR excitation of the Yb3+ sensitizer and direct UV excitation of the Tm3+ activator are performed to quantify cross relaxation and surface quenching processes. The fine tuning of the number of activators per particle via an optimized synthesis pathway along with the use of an appropriate excitation scheme enabled to provide an accurate analysis of the different mechanisms at play in these model nanoparticles and to characterize the structure of the core-shell architecture. KW - Lanthanide KW - Nanoparticle KW - Luminescence KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Quantum yield KW - Energy transfer KW - Quality assurance KW - Synthesis KW - Surface modification KW - Photophysics PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-606877 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202303283 SN - 2195-1071 SP - 1 EP - 13 AN - OPUS4-60687 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andreato, E. A1 - Panov, N. A1 - Artiga, A. A1 - Osipova, Viktoriia A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Ximendes, E. A1 - Molina, P. A1 - Canton, P. A1 - Marin, R. T1 - Indium-Based Fluoride Nanoparticles Doped with Chromium for Near-Infrared Luminescence N2 - Transition metal (TM) and rare earth (RE) ion-doped nanoparticles (NPs) are photoluminescent materials of technological relevance in bioimaging, sensing, and light conversion. Fluoride NPs are particularly attractive in this context, since they combine low-energy phonons, high chemical stability, optical transparency, size, and architecture tunability. Yet, nearly all reported colloidal fluoride NPs (e.g., NaYF4 and LiYF4) can only be efficiently doped with RE3+ and not with luminescent TM ions. Herein, we contribute to filling this gap in materials science by reporting Na3InF6 NPs doped with Cr3+ as a model luminescent TM ion. We unveil the heat-driven NP formation mechanism, which involves a cubic-to-monoclinic phase conversion, similarly to the cubic-tohexagonal phase conversion in NaYF4. Reaction temperatures above 225 °C and reaction time have a limited impact on the NP morphology, while the amount of fluoride precursor and oleylamine grants control over the NP size. After verifying that Na3InF6 NPs show negligible cytotoxicity toward U-87 cell line, we study the optical properties of these NPs upon Cr3+ doping. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements indicate that Cr3+ ions experience a weak crystal field in the Na3InF6 host lattice, while their photoluminescence lifetime varies linearly in the 20−50 °C range. These results set the ground for further studies of photoluminescent TM-doped fluoride NPs, toward their applications in bioimaging, sensing, and light-converting devices. KW - Quality assurance KW - Fluorescence KW - Traceability KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Synthesis KW - Quantum yield KW - NIR KW - Mechanism KW - Characterization KW - XRD KW - Phase transition KW - Ligand KW - Surface KW - Doping KW - Lifetime PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c03335 SN - 1520-5002 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-63073 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Radunz, Sebastian A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Novel PET-Operated Rosamine Sensor Dyes with Substitution Pattern-Tunable pKa Values and Temperature Sensitivity N2 - We present the synthesis and characterization of a family of regioisomerically pure pH-sensitive rosamine fluorophores consisting of xanthene fluorophore cores, which determine the dyes’ photophysical properties such as excitation/emission wavelength, fluorescence quantum yield, and fluorescence lifetime, and differently substituted phenol moieties. The hydroxyl substituent of the phenol moiety introduces a pH sensitivity of the dyes’ fluorescence exploiting a photoinduced electron transfer (PET), that leads to a protonation-induced switching ON of the rosamine emission. Rational tuning of the pKa value of the rosamine fluorescence between 4 to 9 is achieved by altering the substitution pattern and degree of bromination of the phenolic subunits. Additionally, a temperature sensitivity of the fluorescence quantum yield is introduced or suppressed based upon the degree of rigidity of the xanthene scaffold. KW - Fluorescence KW - Optical probe KW - Sensor KW - Dye KW - Rosamine KW - Synthesis KW - Photophysics KW - PH KW - Quantum yield KW - Quality assurancemechanism KW - temperature PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-530562 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d1nj02505h VL - 45 IS - 31 SP - 13934 EP - 13940 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-53056 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bandi, V.G. A1 - Luciano, M.P. A1 - Saccomano, M. A1 - Patel, N.L. A1 - Bischof, Th. S. A1 - Lingg, J.G.P. A1 - Tsrunchev, P.T. A1 - Nix, M.N. A1 - Ruehle, Bastian A1 - Sanders, C. A1 - Riffle, L. A1 - Robinson, C.M. A1 - Difilippantonio, S. A1 - Kalen, J.D. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Ivanic, J. A1 - Bruns, O.T. A1 - Schnermann, M. T1 - Targeted multicolor in vivo imaging over 1,000 nm enabled by nonamethine cyanines N2 - Recent progress has shown that using wavelengths between 1,000 and 2,000 nm, referred to as the shortwave-infrared or near-infrared (NIR)-II range, can enable high-resolution in vivo imaging at depths not possible with conventional optical wavelengths. However, few bioconjugatable probes of the type that have proven invaluable for multiplexed imaging in the visible and NIR range are available for imaging these wavelengths. Using rational design, we have generated persulfonated indocyanine dyes with absorbance maxima at 872 and 1,072 nm through catechol-ring and aryl-ring fusion, respectively, onto the nonamethine scaffold. Multiplexed two-color and three-color in vivo imaging using monoclonal antibody and dextran conjugates in several tumor models illustrate the benefits of concurrent labeling of the tumor and healthy surrounding tissue and lymphatics. These efforts are enabled by complementary advances in a custom-built NIR/shortwave-infrared imaging setup and software package for multicolor real-time imaging. KW - Photoluminescence KW - Fluorescence KW - Dye KW - Cyanine KW - Antibody KW - Bioconjugate KW - Conjugate KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Sensor KW - NIR KW - SWIR KW - Mechanism KW - Imaging KW - Application KW - Contrast agent KW - Bioimaging PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01394-6 VL - 19 IS - 3 SP - 353 EP - 358 PB - Nature Research AN - OPUS4-54465 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bastos, V. A1 - Oskoei, P. A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Saleh, Maysoon I. A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Oliveira, H. T1 - Stability, dissolution, and cytotoxicity of NaYF4‑upconversion nanoparticles with different coatings N2 - Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted considerable attention owing to their unique photophysical properties. Their utilization in biomedical applications depends on the understanding of their transformations under physiological conditions and their potential toxicity. In this study, NaYF4: Yb,Er UCNPs, widely used for luminescence and photophysical studies, were modified with a set of four different coordinatively bound surface ligands, i.e., citrate, alendronate (AA), ethylendiamine tetra(methylene phosphonate) (EDTMP), and poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) (PMAO), as well as silica coatings with two different thicknesses. Subsequently, the aging-induced release of fluoride ions in water and cell culture media and their cytotoxic profile to human keratinocytes were assessed in parallel to the cytotoxic evaluation of the ligands, sodium fluoride and the lanthanide ions. The cytotoxicity studies of UCNPs with different surface modifications demonstrated the good biocompatibility of EDTMP-UCNPs and PMAO-UCNPs, which is in line with the low amount of fluoride ions released from these samples. An efficient prevention of UCNP dissolution and release of cytotoxic ions, as well as low cytotoxicity was also observed for UCNPs with a sufficiently thick silica shell. Overall, our results provide new insights into the understanding of the contribution of surface chemistry to the stability, dissolution behavior, and cytotoxicity of UCNPs. Altogether, the results obtained are highly important for future applications of UCNPs in the life sciences and bioimaging studies. KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Upconversion nanoparticle KW - Lanthanide KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Excitation power density KW - Surface chemistry KW - Coating PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-544681 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07630-5 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Springer Nature CY - London AN - OPUS4-54468 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Behnke, Thomas A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Laux, Eva-Maria A1 - Hoffmann, Katrin A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Simple strategies towards bright polymer particles via one-step staining procedures N2 - In order to develop simple and versatile procedures for the preparation of red emissive particles, various one-step swelling procedures for the loading of fluorophores into nanometer- and micrometer-sized polystyrene particles were systematically assessed. Parameters studied for model dyes from common dye classes include the composition of the swelling medium, dye charge and polarity, dye concentration, and particle surface chemistry. The dye loading procedures were compared based upon the efficiency of dye incorporation, fluorescence intensity, and colloidal stability of the resulting particles as well as the absence of dye leaking as determined by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, flow cytometry, and measurements of zeta potentials. In addition, for the first time, the influence of the amount of incorporated dye on the absolute fluorescence quantum yield and brightness of the fluorescent particles was investigated for selected chromophores in differently sized particles using a custom-made calibrated integrating sphere setup. Our results demonstrate the general suitability of these one-step loading procedures for efficient particle staining with neutral, zwitterionic, and charged fluorophores like oxazines, coumarines, squaraines, xanthenes, and cyanines emitting in the visible and near infrared. Dye polarity was identified as a suitable tool to estimate the loading efficiency of fluorophores into these polymer particles. KW - Fluorescence KW - Polystyrene KW - Particles KW - Encapsulation KW - Quantum yield KW - Zeta potential KW - Method KW - Label KW - Particle KW - Polymer KW - Absolute fluorescence quantum yield KW - Fluorophore KW - Dye content KW - Surface groups KW - Size KW - Brightness PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2012.01.021 SN - 0143-7208 SN - 1873-3743 VL - 94 IS - 2 SP - 247 EP - 257 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Kidlington AN - OPUS4-25481 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bergstrand, J. A1 - Li, Q. A1 - Huang, B. A1 - Peng, X. A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Zhan, Q. A1 - Widengren, J. A1 - Agren, H. A1 - Liu, H. T1 - On the decay time of upconversion luminescence N2 - In this study, we systematically investigate the decay characteristics of upconversion luminescence (UCL) under anti-Stokes excitation through numerical simulations based on rate-equation models. We find that a UCL decay profile generally involves contributions from the sensitizer’s excited-state lifetime, energy transfer and cross-relaxation processes. It should thus be regarded as the overall temporal response of the whole upconversion system to the excitation function rather than the intrinsic lifetime of the luminescence emitting state. Only under certain conditions, such as when the effective lifetime of the sensitizer’s excited state is significantly shorter than that of the UCL emitting state and of the absence of cross-relaxation processes involving the emitting energy level, the UCL decay time approaches the intrinsic lifetime of the emitting state. Subsequently, Stokes excitation is generally preferred in order to accurately quantify the intrinsic lifetime of the emitting state. However, possible cross-relaxation between doped ions at high doping levels can complicate the decay characteristics of the luminescence and even make the Stokesexcitation approach fail. A strong cross-relaxation process can also account for the power dependence of the decay characteristics of UCL. KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Upconversion nanoparticle KW - Lanthanide KW - Photoluminescence KW - Mechanism KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Modeling PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr10332a VL - 11 IS - 11 SP - 4959 EP - 4969 PB - RSC Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-47888 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bertorelle, F. A1 - Wegner, Karl David A1 - Berkulic, M. P. A1 - Fakhouri, H. A1 - Comby-Zerbino, C. A1 - Sagar, A. A1 - Bernadó, P. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Bonacic-Koutecký, V. A1 - Le Guével, X. A1 - Antoine, R. T1 - Tailoring the NIR-II Photoluminescence of Single Thiolated Au25 Nanoclusters by Selective Binding to Proteins N2 - Atomically precise gold nanoclusters are a fascinating class of nanomaterials that exhibit molecule-like properties and have outstanding photoluminescence (PL). Their ultrasmall size, molecular chemistry, and biocompatibility make them extremely appealing for selective biomolecule labeling in investigations of biological mechanisms at the cellular and anatomical levels. In this work, we report a simple route to incorporate a preformed Au25 nanocluster into a model bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein. A new approach combining small-angle X-ray scattering and molecular modeling provides a clear localization of a single Au25 within the protein to a cysteine residue on the gold nanocluster surface. Attaching Au25 to BSA strikingly modifies the PL properties with enhancement and a redshift in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window. This study paves the way to conrol the design of selective sensitive probes in biomolecules through a ligand-based strategy to enable the optical detection of biomolecules in a cellular environment by live imaging. KW - Fluorescence KW - Aggregation KW - Signal enhancement KW - Cluster KW - Nano KW - Metal KW - NIRII KW - SWIR KW - Sensor KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Photophysics KW - Synthesis KW - Protein KW - Imaging KW - Bioimaging KW - Ligand KW - Gold PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202200570 SN - 1521-3765 VL - 28 IS - 39 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-55077 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Biesen, L. A1 - Krenzer, J. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Müller, Th. J. J. T1 - Asymmetrically bridged aroyl-S,N-ketene acetalbased multichromophores with aggregationinduced tunable emission N2 - Asymmetrically bridged aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals and aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal multichromophores can be readily synthesized in consecutive three-, four-, or five-component syntheses in good to excellent yields by several successive Suzuki-couplings of aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals and bis(boronic)acid esters. Different aroyl-S,N-ketene acetals as well as linker molecules yield a library of 23 multichromophores with substitution and linker pattern-tunable emission properties. This allows control of different communication pathways between the chromophores and of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and energy transfer (ET) properties, providing elaborate aggregation-based fluorescence switches. KW - Dye KW - Aggregation KW - Aggregation induced emission KW - Signal enhancement KW - Energy transfer KW - Switch KW - Sensor KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Photophysics KW - Sythesis KW - Nanaoparticle PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550719 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d2sc00415a VL - 13 SP - 5374 EP - 5381 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-55071 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -