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Weakening thermal quenching to enhance luminescence of Er 3+ doped β ‐NaYF 4 nanocrystals via acid‐treatment
Author(s) -
Yang Dandan,
Pan Qiwen,
Kang Shiliang,
Dong Guoping,
Qiu Jianrong
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/jace.16490
Subject(s) - luminescence , quenching (fluorescence) , calcination , nanocrystal , hydrochloric acid , thermal treatment , materials science , oxygen , fluorescence , photochemistry , chemistry , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , catalysis , organic chemistry , physics , optoelectronics , quantum mechanics , composite material
Abstract Rare earth (RE) ions‐doped luminescent nanocrystals (NCs) with numerous unique advantages have attracted tremendous interest for the wide applications from science to engineering, yet suffering from the shortcoming of thermal quenching coming from surface organic ligands. We propose utilizing a facile acid‐base reaction to remove surface organic ligands introduced choosing carboxylic acids as stabilizing agent and weaken thermal quenching. The results showed that the acid‐base reaction displayed an outstanding cleaning effect. After acid‐treatment, most surface organic ligands were removed, and there was no influence on crystal structure and morphology of as‐prepared β ‐NaYF 4 :Er 3+ NCs. Meanwhile, with no surface organic ligands capping, β ‐NaYF 4 :Er 3+ NCs preferred brighter emission after thermal treatment, including up‐conversion (UC), near‐infrared (NIR), and mid‐infrared (MIR) emission. When calcined the acid‐treated β ‐NaYF 4 :Er 3+ NCs in different atmosphere, such as oxygen and reducing atmosphere (15%H 2 + 85%N 2 ), an unexpected enhancement of all emission bands in Er 3+ was determined under phase transformation temperature, especially in oxygen atmosphere. Furthermore, all the fluorescence lifetimes of Er 3+ also exhibited obvious extension. Our results supposed that the β ‐NaYF 4 :Er 3+ NCs have promising applications in safety ink, and the acid‐treatment by diluted hydrochloric acid is a general approach to remove deleterious organic ligands on NC surface further to weaken thermal quenching.