TY - JOUR A1 - Zhao, J. A1 - Hu, Y. A1 - wei Lin, S. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Zhang, R. A1 - Wen, J. A1 - Kong, X. A1 - Qin, A. A1 - Ou, J. T1 - Enhanced luminescence intensity of near-infraredsensitized sensitized upconversion nanoparticles via Ca²+ doping for a nitric oxide release platform JF - Royal Society of Chemistry N2 - Light-induced NO release based on exogenous NO donors has attracted substantial attention in clinical applications; the induction light source usually converts near-infrared light to blue or ultraviolet light. However, the low efficiency of near-infrared light-assisted chemical light energy conversion remains a challenge, especially for NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ photoconverting near-infrared light to ultraviolet (UV) and blue light. In this paper, a luminescence-enhanced strategy is reported by doping Ca2+ into NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ and coating it with NaGdF4 through a two-step solvothermal method. Then, UCNPs modified with methyl-b-cyclodextrin (M-b-CD) are loaded on a ruthenium nitrosyl complex [(3)Ru(NO)(Cl)] as nitric oxide release-molecules (NORMs). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) data demonstrated that Ca2+ was successfully doped into NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ nanoparticles as the core, and a pure hexagonal phase, NaYF4, was obtained from the doping of Ca2+. TEM revealed that the crystallinity was significantly improved after Ca2+ doping, and the core–shell structure was successfully synthesized, with NaGdF4 directionally grown on the NaYF4:Ca/Yb/Tm core. Fluorescence tests showed that, especially in the ultraviolet and blue light excitation wavelength regions, the UC emission intensity of the Ca-doped NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+@NaGdF4 core–shell UCNPs increased by 302.95 times vs. NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ UCNPs. Finally, the release of NO was tested by the Griess method. Under 980 nm irradiation, the cell viability distinctly decreased with increasing UCNPs@M-b-CD-NORMs concentration. This study Shows that NORM release of NO is triggered by enhanced up-converted UV and blue light, which can be used for the development of UV photo-sensitive drugs. KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Upconversion nanoparticle KW - Lanthanide KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Sensor KW - Surface chemistry KW - Single particle KW - Brightness KW - NIR KW - PDT PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0tb00088d VL - 8 IS - 30 SP - 6481 EP - 6489 PB - Journal of Materials Chemistry B AN - OPUS4-51262 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hu, Y. A1 - Neumann, C. A1 - Scholtz, Lena A1 - Turchanin, A. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Eigler, S. T1 - Polarity, intramolecular charge transfer, and hydrogen bond comediated solvent effects on the optical properties of graphene quantum dots JF - Nano Research N2 - Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have attracted increasing attention due to their favorable optical properties and have been widely used, e.g., in the biomedical field. However, the properties related to the chemical structure of GQDs, resulting in solventdependent optical properties, still remain unclear. Herein, we present the synthesis of long-wavelength emitting GQDs with a size of about 3.6 nm via a solvothermal method using oxo-functionalized graphene (oxo-G) and p-phenylenediamine as precursors and their structural and surface chemical analysis by transmission electron and atomic force microscopy (TEM; AFM) as well as Fourier-transform infrared, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (FTIR; Raman; XPS). Subsequently, the influence of solvent polarity and proticity on the optical properties of the as-prepared GQDs bearing –OH, –NH2, –COOH and pyridine surface groups was investigated. Based on the results of the absorption and fluorescence (FL) studies, a possible luminescence mechanism is proposed. The observed solvent-induced changes in the spectral position of the FL maximum, FL quantum yield, and FL decay kinetics in protic and aprotic solvents of low and high polarity are ascribed to a combination of polarity effects, intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) processes, and hydrogen bonding. Moreover, the potential of GQDs for the optical sensing of trace amount of water was assessed. The results of our systematic spectroscopic study will promote the rational design of GQDs and shed more light on the FL mechanism of carbon based fluorescent nanomaterials. KW - Graphene quantum dots KW - Solvent polarity KW - solvent-induced changes KW - Charge transfer PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4752-1 SN - 1998-0124 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-56030 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -