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Strong Stokes and Upconversion Luminescence from Ultrasmall Ln 3+ ‐Doped BiF 3 (Ln=Eu 3+ , Yb 3+ /Er 3+ ) Nanoparticles Confined in a Polymer Matrix
Author(s) -
Sarkar Shyam,
Dash Armita,
Mahalingam Venkataramanan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemistry – an asian journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.18
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1861-471X
pISSN - 1861-4728
DOI - 10.1002/asia.201301281
Subject(s) - lanthanide , nanoparticle , bismuth , doping , materials science , photon upconversion , luminescence , metal , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , nuclear chemistry , ion , chemistry , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , metallurgy
Heavy metal fluorides like BiF 3 as a host for lanthanide ions are of interest as bismuth is the only heavy metal that is nontoxic. In this work, we report the synthesis of highly water‐dispersible ultrasmall BiF 3 nanoparticles about 6 nm in size within a poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) matrix by a hydrothermal method. Microscopy analysis reveals that the nanoparticles are well separated and confined within the polymer network. These nanoparticles were found to be excellent hosts for lanthanide (Ln 3+ ) ions. Through suitable Ln 3+ doping, BiF 3 exhibits strong emissions in the visible region upon both UV and near infrared (NIR) excitations. The non‐toxicity of both bismuth and PVP can be advantageous for the potential use of BiF 3 nanoparticles in drug delivery and bioimaging.