Recent Progress of Rare‐Earth Doped Upconversion Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Optimization, and Applications

• Published in: Advanced science Vol. 6; no. 22; pp. 1901358 - n/a
• Main Authors: Zhu, Xiaohui, Zhang, Jing, Liu, Jinliang, Zhang, Yong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.11.2019; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Decomposition; Energy; Fluorides; High temperature; Light; Methods; Nanocrystals; Nanoparticles; NIR light; optimization; Quantum dots; rare earth; Review; Reviews; Studies; synthesis; upconversion; synthesis; NIR light; rare earth; upconversion; optimization
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.201901358

Upconversion is a nonlinear optical phenomenon that involves the emission of high‐energy photons by sequential absorption of two or more low‐energy excitation photons. Due to their excellent physiochemical properties such as deep penetration depth, little damage to samples, and high chemical stability, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are extensively applied in bioimaging, biosensing, theranostic, and photochemical reactions. Here, recent achievements in the synthesis, optimization, and applications of UCNP‐based nanomaterials are reviewed. The state‐of‐the‐art approaches to synthesize UCNPs in the past few years are introduced first, followed by a summary of several strategies to optimize upconversion emissive properties and various applications of UCNPs. Lastly, the challenges and future perspectives of UCNPs are provided as a conclusion. Due to their excellent physiochemical properties, rare‐earth based upconversion nanoparticles are extensively applied in bioimaging, biosensing, phototherapy, optogenetics, etc. Research progress in synthesis, optimization, and various applications of rare‐earth based upconversion nanoparticles is summarized and evaluated.