Aggregation-induced heterogeneities in the emission of upconverting nanoparticles at the submicron scale unfolded by hyperspectral microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Transparent upconverting hybrid nanocomposites are exciting materials for advanced applications such as 3D displays, nanosensors, solar energy converters, and fluorescence biomarkers. This work presents a simple strategy to disperse upconverting β-NaYF₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ or Tm³⁺ nanoparticles into low cost, widely used and easy-to-process polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based organic-inorganic hybrids. The upconverting hybrids were shaped as monoliths, films or powders displaying in the whole volume Tm³⁺ or Er³⁺ emissions (in the violet/blue and green/red spectral regions, respectively). For the first time, hyperspectral microscopy allows the identification at the submicron scale of differences in the hybrids' emission colour, due to va

SUBMITTER: Gonell F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9418934 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature