TY - JOUR A1 - Labrador-Paez, Lucia, L. A1 - Kankare, J. A1 - Hyppanen, I. A1 - Soukka, T. A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Widengren, J A1 - Liu, H. T1 - Frequency-Domain Method for Characterization of Upconversion Luminescence Kinetics JF - The journal of physical chemistry letters N2 - The frequency-domain (FD) method provides an alternative to the commonly used time-domain (TD) approach in characterizing the luminescence kinetics of luminophores, with its own strengths, e.g., the capability to decouple multiple lifetime components with higher reliability and accuracy. While extensively explored for characterizing luminophores with down-shifted emission, this method has not been investigated for studying nonlinear luminescent materials such as lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), featuring more complicated kinetics. In this work, employing a simplified rate-equation model representing a standard two-photon energy-transfer upconversion process, we thoroughly analyzed the response of the luminescence of UCNPs in the FD method. We found that the FD method can potentially obtain from a single experiment the effective decay rates of three critical energy states of the sensitizer/activator ions involved in the upconversion process. The validity of the FD method is demonstrated by experimental data, agreeing reasonably well with the results obtained by TD methods. KW - Quality assurance KW - Luminescence KW - Method KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Lifetime KW - Method development PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597435 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00269 SP - 3436 EP - 3444 AN - OPUS4-59743 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fiedler, Saskia A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Tavernaro, Isabella A1 - Grüne, M. A1 - Schweizer, S. A1 - Engel, A. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Interlaboratory Comparison on Absolute Photoluminescence Quantum Yield Measurements of Solid Light Converting Phosphors with Three Commercial Integrating Sphere Setups JF - American Chemical Society N2 - Scattering luminescent materials dispersed in liquid and solid matrices and luminescent powders are increasingly relevant for fundamental research and industry. Examples are luminescent nano- and microparticles and phosphors of different compositions in various matrices or incorporated into ceramics with applications in energy conversion, solid-state lighting, medical diagnostics, and security barcoding. The key parameter to characterize the performance of these materials is the photoluminescence/fluorescence quantum yield (Φf), i.e., the number of emitted photons per number of absorbed photons. To identify and quantify the sources of uncertainty of absolute measurements of Φf of scattering samples, the first interlaboratory comparison (ILC) of three laboratories from academia and industry was performed by following identical measurement protocols. Thereby, two types ofcommercial stand-alone integrating sphere setups with different illumination and detection geometries were utilized for measuring the Φf of transparent and scattering dye solutions and solid phosphors, namely, YAG:Ce optoceramics of varying surface roughness, used as converter materials for blue light emitting diodes. Special emphasis was dedicated to the influence of the measurement geometry, the optical properties of the blank utilized to determine the number of photons of the incident excitation light absorbed by the sample, and the sample-specific surface roughness. While the Φf values of the liquid samples matched between instruments, Φf measurements of the optoceramics with different blanks revealed substantial differences. The ILC results underline the importance of the measurement geometry, sample position, and blank for reliable Φf data of scattering the YAG:Ce optoceramics, with the blank’s optical properties accounting for uncertainties exceeding 20%. KW - Nano KW - Fluorescence KW - Reference material KW - Luminescence KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Particle KW - Quantum yield KW - Quality assurance KW - Phosphor KW - Converter material KW - Lifetime KW - Interlaboratory comparison KW - Method KW - Uncertainty PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-600945 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.4c00372 SN - 0003-2700 SP - 6730 EP - 6737 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-60094 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - López-Iglesias, C. A1 - Markovina, A. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, N. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Klinger, D. T1 - Optically monitoring the microenvironment of a hydrophobic cargo in amphiphilic nanogels: influence of network composition on loading and release JF - Nanoscale N2 - Amphiphilic nanogels (ANGs) are promising carriers for hydrophobic cargos such as drugs, dyes, and catalysts. Loading content and release kinetics of these compounds are controlled by type and number of hydrophobic groups in the amphiphilic copolymer network. Thus, understanding the interactions between cargo and colloidal carrier is mandatory for a tailor-made and cargo-specific ANG design. To systematically explore the influence of the network composition on these interactions, we prepared a set of ANGs of different amphiphilicity and loaded these ANGs with varying concentrations of the solvatochromic dye Nile Red (NR). Here, NR acts as a hydrophobic model cargo to optically probe the polarity of its microenvironment. Analysis of the NR emission spectra as well as measurements of the fluorescence quantum yields and decay kinetics revealed a decrease in the polarity of the NR microenvironment with increasing hydrophobicity of the hydrophobic groups in the ANG network and dye–dye interactions at higher loading concentrations. At low NR concentrations, the hydrophobic cargo NR is encapsulated in the hydrophobic domains. Increasing NR concentrations resulted in probe molecules located in a more hydrophilic environment, i.e., at the nanodomain border, and favored dye–dye interactions and NR aggregation. These results correlate well with release experiments, indicating first NR release from more hydrophilic network locations. Overall, our findings demonstrate the importance to understand carrier–drug interactions for efficient loading and controlled release profiles in amphiphilic nanogels. KW - Particle KW - Energy transfer KW - Limit of detection KW - Polymer KW - Luminescence KW - Quantitative spectroscopy KW - Nano KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Quality assurance KW - Dye KW - Probe KW - Sensor KW - Nile Red PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601603 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d4nr00051j SN - 2040-3364 IS - 16 SP - 9525 EP - 9535 PB - The Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-60160 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -