Color Tunable Nanophosphors by Codoping Y2O3 with Tb and Eu

Biological labels are used in bio-imaging and the ability to tag cells and biomolecules facilitates diagnosis and therapy. Even though organic dyes are used for such applications, their photobleaching inhibits their further employment. Quantum dots do not exhibit photobleaching and their emission color can be tuned by their size, however, their optical blinking and the high toxicity of their components restrict their use in bio-applications. An alternative strategy for such biolabeling applications are inorganic nanoparticles consisting of a host crystal matrix doped with lanthanide ions, the so-called nanophosphors. The color of these particles depends on the doping ion and not on their size, while their optical properties are superior to organic dyes and quantum dots. The target of this project is the flame synthesis of Y₂O₃ nanoparticles doped with Tb³⁺ and Eu³⁺. The co-doping of these ions in the Y₂O₃ matrix allows for the fine color tuning of the emission bandwidth [1].

[1] Sotiriou, G. A., Schneider, M. & Pratsinis, S. E. Color-Tunable Nanophosphors by Codoping Flame-Made Y₂O₃ with Tb and Eu. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 115, 1084-1089 (2011).