Synthesis of gold/rare-earth-vanadate core/shell nanorods for integrating plasmon resonance and fluorescence

• Published in: Nano research Vol. 8; no. 8; pp. 2548 - 2561
• Main Authors: Wang, Jiahong, Huang, Hao, Zhang, Daquan, Chen, Ming, Zhang, Yafang, Yu, Xuefeng, Zhou, Li, Wang, Ququan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Tsinghua University Press 01.08.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anion exchange; Atomic/Molecular Structure and Spectra; Biomedicine; Biotechnology; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Cores; Earth; Exchange; Fluorescence; Fluorides; Gold; Ligands; Materials Science; Nanocrystals; Nanorods; Nanostructure; Nanotechnology; Oxides; Rare earth compounds; Rare earth metals; Research Article; Surfactants; 合成控制; 氧化钒; 稀土化合物; 稀土氧化物; 等离子体材料; 荧光棒; 表面活性剂; 金; China; core/shell heterostructures; gold nanorods; fluorescence; rare-earth vanadates; ion exchange
• ISSN: 1998-0124; 1998-0000
• DOI: 10.1007/s12274-015-0761-7

The nanoscale core/shell heterostructure is a particularly efficient motif to combine the promising properties of plasmonic materials and rare-earth compounds; however, there remain significant challenges in the synthetic control due to the large interfacial energy between these two intrinsically unmatched materials. Herein, we report a synthetic route to grow rare-earth-vanadate shells on gold nanorod （AuNR） cores. After modifying the AuNR surface with oleate through a surfactant exchange, well-packaged rare-earth oxide （e.g., Gd2O3：Eu） shells are grown on AuNRs as a result of the multiple roles of oleate. Furthermore, the composition of the shell has been altered from oxide to vanadate （GdVO4：Eu） using an anion exchange method. Owing to the carefully designed strategy, the AuNR cores maintain the morphology during the synthesis process; thus, the final Au/GdVO4： Eu core/shell NRs exhibit strong absorption bands and high photothermal efficiency. In addition, the Au/GdVO4：Eu NRs exhibit bright Eu^3＋ fluorescence with quantum yield as high as -17%; bright Sm^3＋ and Dy^3＋ fluorescence can also be obtained by changing the lanthanide doping in the oxide formation. Owing to the attractive integration of the plasmonic and fluorescence properties, such core/shell heterostructures will find particular applications in a wide array of areas, from biomedicine to energy.