Filtern
Erscheinungsjahr
Dokumenttyp
- Zeitschriftenartikel (70) (entfernen)
Schlagworte
- Quantum yield (29)
- Fluorescence (23)
- Lanthanide (17)
- Photoluminescence (17)
- Upconversion (17)
- Lifetime (13)
- NIR (13)
- Nanoparticle (13)
- Nano (12)
- Photophysics (12)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
Paper des Monats
- ja (2)
The photoluminescence quantum yield (Φf) that presents a direct measure for the efficiency of the conversion of absorbed photons into emitted photons is one of the spectroscopic key parameters of functional fluorophores. It determines the suitability of such materials for applications in, for example, (bio)analysis, biosensing, and fluorescence imaging as well as as active components in optical devices. The reborn interest in accurate Φf measurements in conjunction with the controversial reliability of reported Φf values of many common organic dyes encouraged us to compare two relative and one absolute fluorometric method for the determination of the fluorescence quantum yields of quinine sulfate dihydrate, coumarin 153, fluorescein, rhodamine 6G, and rhodamine 101. The relative methods include the use of a chain of Φf transfer standards consisting of several 'standard dye' versus 'reference dye' pairs linked to a golden Φf standard that covers the ultraviolet and visible spectral region, and the use of different excitation wavelengths for standard and sample, respectively. Based upon these measurements and the calibration of the instruments employed, complete uncertainty budgets for the resulting Φf values are derived for each method, thereby providing evaluated standard operation procedures for Φf measurements and, simultaneously, a set of assessed Φf standards.
The widespread use and acceptance of fluorescence techniques especially in regulated areas like medical diagnostics is closely linked to standardization concepts that guarantee and improve the comparability and reliability of fluorescence measurements. At the core of such concepts are dependable fluorescence standards that are preferably certified. The ever rising interest in fluorescence measurements in the near-infrared (NIR) spectral region renders the availability of spectral and intensity standards for this wavelength region increasingly important. This encouraged us to develop approaches to solid NIR standards based upon dye-doped polymers and assess their applicationrelevant properties in comparison to metal ion-doped glasses. The overall goal is here to provide inexpensive, easily fabricated, and robust internal and external calibration tools for a broad variety of fluorescence instruments ranging e.g. from spectrofluorometers over fluorescence microscopes to miniaturized fluorescence sensors.
Critical review of the determination of photoluminescence quantum yields of luminescent reporters
(2015)
A crucial variable for methodical performance evaluation and comparison of luminescent reporters is the photoluminescence quantum yield (Φ pl). This quantity, defined as the number of emitted photons per number of absorbed photons, is the direct measure of the efficiency of the conversion of absorbed photons into emitted light for small organic dyes, fluorescent proteins, metal–ligand complexes, metal clusters, polymeric nanoparticles, and semiconductor and up-conversion nanocrystals. Φ pl determines the sensitivity for the detection of a specific analyte from the chromophore perspective, together with its molar-absorption coefficient at the excitation wavelength. In this review we discuss different optical and photothermal methods for measuring Φ pl of transparent and scattering systems for the most common classes of luminescent reporters, and critically evaluate their potential and limitations. In addition, reporter-specific effects and sources of uncertainty are addressed. The ultimate objective is to provide users of fluorescence techniques with validated tools for the determination of Φ pl, including a series of Φ pl standards for the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions, and to enable better judgment of the reliability of literature data.
We present a systematic study on the effect of surface ligands on the luminescence properties and colloidal stability of β-NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+ upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), comparing nine different surface coatings to render these UCNPs water-dispersible and bioconjugatable. A prerequisite for this study was a large-scale synthetic method that yields ~2 g per batch of monodisperse oleate-capped UCNPs providing identical core particles. These ~23 nm sized UCNPs display an upconversion quantum yield of ~0.35% when dispersed in cyclohexane and excited with a power density of 150 W cm-2, underlining their high quality. A comparison of the colloidal stability and luminescence properties of these UCNPs, subsequently surface modified with ligand exchange or encapsulation protocols, revealed that the ratio of the green (545 nm) and red (658 nm) emission bands determined at a constant excitation power density clearly depends on the surface chemistry. Modifications relying on the deposition of additional (amphiphilic) layer coatings, where the initial oleate coating is retained, show reduced non-radiative quenching by water as compared to UCNPs that are rendered water-dispersible via ligand exchange. Moreover, we could demonstrate that the brightness of the upconversion luminescence of the UCNPs is strongly affected by the type of surface modification, i.e., ligand exchange or encapsulation, yet hardly by the chemical nature of the ligand.
Bright emitters with photoluminescence in the spectral region of 800–1600 nm are increasingly important as optical reporters for molecular imaging, sensing, and telecommunication and as active components in electrooptical and photovoltaic devices. Their rational design is directly linked to suitable methods for the characterization of their signal-relevant properties, especially their photoluminescence quantum yield (Φf). Aiming at the development of bright semiconductor nanocrystals with emission >1000 nm, we designed a new NIR/IR integrating sphere setup for the wavelength region of 600–1600 nm. We assessed the performance of this setup by acquiring the corrected emission spectra and Φf of the organic dyes Itrybe, IR140, and IR26 and several infrared (IR)-emissive Cd1-xHgxTe and PbS semiconductor nanocrystals and comparing them to data obtained with two independently calibrated fluorescence instruments absolutely or relative to previously evaluated reference dyes. Our results highlight special challenges of photoluminescence studies in the IR ranging from solvent absorption to the lack of spectral and intensity standards together with quantum dot-specific challenges like photobrightening and photodarkening and the size-dependent air stability and photostability of differently sized oleate-capped PbS colloids. These effects can be representative of lead chalcogenides. Moreover, we redetermined the Φf of IR26, the most frequently used IR reference dye, to 1.1 × 10-3 in 1,2-dichloroethane DCE with a thorough sample reabsorption and solvent absorption correction. Our results indicate the need for a critical reevaluation of Φf values of IR-emissive nanomaterials and offer guidelines for improved Φf measurements.
In order to assess the anisotropy-related uncertainties of relatively determined photoluminescence quantum yields (ΦPL) of molecular emitters and luminescent nanomaterials, we compared ΦPL values measured without and with polarizers using magic angle conditions and studied systematically the dependence of the detected emission intensity on the polarizer settings for samples of varying anisotropy. This includes a dispersion of a spherical quantum dot (QD) with an ideally isotropic emission, a solution of a common small organic dye in a fluid solvent as well as dispersions of elongated quantum dot rods (QDR) with an anisotropic luminescence and a small organic dye in a rigid polymeric matrix, as ideally anisotropic emitter. Our results show that for instruments lacking polarizers, anisotropy-related measurement uncertainties of relative photoluminescence quantum yields can amount to more than 40%, with the size of these systematic errors depending on the difference in emission anisotropy between the sample and the standard.
We have studied the mechanisms of water-based quenching of the upconversion photoluminescence of upconverting nanophosphors (UCNPs) via luminescence decay measurements for a better understanding of the non-radiative deactivation pathways responsible for the relatively low upconversion luminescence efficiency in aqueous solutions. This included both upconversion luminescence measurements and the direct excitation of emissive energy states of Er3+ and Yb3+ dopants in NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+ UCNPs by measuring the decays at 550 and 655 nm upon 380 nm excitation and at 980 nm upon 930 nm excitation, respectively. The luminescence intensities and decays were measured from both bare and silanized NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+ and NaYF4:Yb3+,Tm3+ UCNPs in H2O and D2O. The measurements revealed up to 99.9% quenching of the upconversion photoluminescence intensity of both Er3+ and Tm3+ doped bare nanophosphors by water. Instead of the multiphonon relaxation of excited energy levels of the activators, the main mechanism of quenching was found to be the multiphonon deactivation of the Yb3+ sensitizer ion caused by OH-vibrations on the surface of the nanophosphor. Due to the nonlinear nature of upconversion, the quenching of Yb3+ has a higher order effect on the upconversion emission intensity with the efficient Yb–Yb energy migration in the ~35 nm nanocrystals making the whole nanophosphor volume susceptible to surface quenching effects. The study underlines the need of efficient surface passivation for the use of UCNPs as labels in bioanalytical applications performed in aqueous solutions.
The ever-increasing use of fluorescent nanomaterials and micrometer-sized beads in the life and material sciences requires reliable procedures for the measurement of the key performance parameter fluorescence quantum yield (Ff) of scattering particle dispersions and reference systems to evaluate the performance of such measurements. This encouraged us to systematically study, both theoretically and experimentally, the optical determination of photoluminescent quantum yield as a function of the scattering and absorption properties of the sample and the illumination geometry with an integrating sphere method. The latter included measurements with a direct and an indirect illumination. As a representative and easy-to-prepare reference system, we used ethanolic dispersions of 250 nm sized silica particles and the dye rhodamine 101 and systematically varied the concentration of the dye and particles within the typical ranges of spectroscopic and (bio)analytical applications of fluorescent nanomaterials. Based on our measurements, we recommend indirect sample illumination geometry for the accurate measurement of Ff of samples with low or unknown absorption and high scattering coefficients such as dispersions of luminescent particles or fluorescent reporters in biological matrices. This finding is of utmost relevance for all (bio)analytical applications of fluorescent nanomaterials ranging from particle labels and probes over assay platforms to safety barcodes.
Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are of great interest for biomedical applications. Currently, the applicability of UCNP bionanotechnology is hampered by the generally low luminescence intensity of UCNPs and inefficient energy Transfer from UCNPs to surface-bound chromophores used e.g. for photodynamic therapy or analyte sensing. In this work, we address the low-Efficiency issue by developing versatile core-Shell nanostructures, where high-concentration sensitizers and activators are confined in the core and Shell Region of representative hexagonal NaYF2:Yb,Er UCNPs. After Doping concentration optimization, the sensitizer-rich core is able to harvest/accumulate more excitation energy and generate almost one order of Magnitude higher luminescence intesity than conventional homogeneously doped nanostructures. At the same time, the activator Ions located in the Shell enable a ~6 times more efficient resonant energy Transfer from UCNPs to surface-bound acceptor dye molecules due to the short distance between donor-acceptor pairs. Our work provides new insights into the rational design of UCNPs and will greatly encrease the General applicability of upconversion nanotechnologies.
We synthesized and characterized a set of ultrasmall hexagonal-phase NaGdF4: 20% Yb3+, 2% Er3+ upconversion nanoparticles with core diameters of 3.7 ± 0.5 nm. In order to assess passivation effects and the influence of possible core−shell intermixing and to identify optimum particle structures for combined imaging in the visible and near-infrared (vis−NIR: 410−850 nm) and short-wave infrared (SWIR: 1520 nm), NaYF4 shells of varying thicknesses (monolayer to 10 nm) were introduced and the influence of this parameter on the upconversion and downshifting photoluminescence of these particles was studied at different excitation power densities. This included excitation power-dependent emission spectra, slope factors, quantum yields, and excited state decay kinetics. These measurements revealed enhancement factors of the upconversion quantum yield of >10 000 in the low power region and an excitation power density-independent quantum yield of the downshifted emission at 1520 nm between 0.1 and 14%. The optimized shell thickness for combined vis and SWIR imaging was identified as 5 nm. Moreover, lifetimes and quantum yields can be continuously tuned by shell thickness which can be exploited for lifetime multiplexing and encoding. The fact that we did not observe a saturation of the upconversion quantum yield or the excited state decay kinetics with increasing shell thickness is ascribed to a strong intermixing of the active core with the inert shell during the shelling procedure. This indicates the potential of spectroscopic tools to detect cation intermixing.