TY - JOUR A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Michaelis, Matthias A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Würth, Christian T1 - Time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy for monitoring the stability and dissolution behaviour of upconverting nanocrystals with different surface coatings† N2 - We demonstrate the potential of time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy for the straightforward assessment and in situ monitoring of the stability of upconversion nanocrystals (UCNPs). Therefore, we prepared hexagonal NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+ UCNPs with various coatings with a focus on phosphonate ligands of different valency, using different ligand exchange procedures, and studied their dissolution behaviour in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) dispersions at 20 °C and 37 °C with various analytical methods. The amount of the released UCNPs constituting fluoride ions was quantified by potentiometry using a Fluoride ion-sensitive electrode and particle disintegration was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy studies of the differently aged UCNPs. In parallel, the luminescence features of the UCNPs were measured with special emphasis on the lifetime of the sensitizer emission to demonstrate its suitability as Screening parameter for UCNP stability and changes in particle composition. The excellent correlation between the changes in luminescence lifetime and fluoride concentration highlights the potential of our luminescence lifetime method for UCNP stability screening and thereby indirect monitoring of the release of potentially hazardous fluoride ions during uptake and dissolution in biological systems. Additionally, the developed in situ optical method was used to distinguish the dissolution dynamics of differently sized and differently coated UCNPs. KW - Fluorescence KW - Lifetime KW - Method KW - Quantification KW - Stability KW - Coating KW - Surface chemistry KW - Lanthanide KW - Fluoride KW - Electrochemistry KW - ICP-OES KW - Upconversion KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Aging KW - Quality assurance KW - TEM PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nr02931a VL - 12 IS - 23 SP - 12589 EP - 12601 PB - Royal Society od Chemistry AN - OPUS4-52088 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Islam, Fahima A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Gehrmann, P. A1 - Licha, K. A1 - Roik, Janina A1 - Recknagel, Sebastian A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Assessing the reproducibility and up‑scaling of the synthesis of Er,Yb‑doped NaYF4‑based upconverting nanoparticles and control of size, morphology, and optical properties N2 - Lanthanide-based, spectrally shifting, and multi-color luminescent upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) have received much attention in the last decades because of their applicability as reporter for bioimaging, super-resolution microscopy, and sensing as well as barcoding and anti-counterfeiting tags. A prerequisite for the broad application of UCNPs in areas such as sensing and encoding are simple, robust, and easily upscalable synthesis protocols that yield large quantities of UCNPs with sizes of 20 nm or more with precisely controlled and tunable physicochemical properties from lowcost reagents with a high reproducibility. In this context, we studied the reproducibility, robustness, and upscalability of the synthesis of β-NaYF4:Yb, Er UCNPs via thermal decomposition. Reaction parameters included solvent, precursor chemical compositions, ratio, and concentration. The resulting UCNPs were then examined regarding their application-relevant physicochemical properties such as size, size distribution, morphology, crystal phase, chemical composition, and photoluminescence. Based on these screening studies, we propose a small volume and high-concentration synthesis approach that can provide UCNPs with different, yet controlled size, an excellent phase purity and tunable morphology in batch sizes of up to at least 5 g which are well suited for the fabrication of sensors, printable barcodes or authentication and recycling tags. KW - Photoluminescence KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Synthesis KW - Reproducibility KW - Upconversion nanoparticle KW - Lanthanide PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-570170 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28875-8 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 13 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 13 AN - OPUS4-57017 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -