English

Coating and Transforming the Y(OH)CO₃ Shell on Upconversion Nanoparticles

• Liu Dongmei ,
• Chen Xiumei ,
• Yuan Ze ,
• Lu Min ,
• Yin Lisha ^, ,
• Xie Xiaoji ^, ,
• Huang Ling

• Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, P.R. China

Corresponding author: Yin Lisha, iamlsyin@njtech.edu.cn Xie Xiaoji, iamxjxie@njtech.edu.cn

• Received Date: 01 July 2019
  Accepted Date: 26 July 2019
  Revised Date: 25 July 2019
  Available Online: 15 July 2020
• Fund Project:

  The project was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFB1002900) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (BK20160987)

Abstract: Along with the promising applications of lanthanide doped upconversion nanomaterials in diverse fields such as biology, anti-counterfeiting, and lasering, the demand for multifunctional upconversion nanomaterials is increasing. One effective means of obtaining these nanomaterials is to fabricate upconversion nanomaterial-based heterostructures, which may provide superior properties as compared to the sum of the parts. However, obtaining heterostructured upconversion nanomaterials remains challenging mainly because of the crystal lattice mismatch between upconversion nanomaterials and other materials. Typically used strategies for synthesizing upconversion nanomaterial-based heterostructures are applicable only to limited types of materials. Alternatively, transformation of the intermediate layer is a promising strategy used to obtain these heterostructures. Nevertheless, this method remains in its infancy and, to date, only a few intermediate layers have been developed. New types of intermediate layers are therefore highly desirable. In this study, we show that amorphous Y(OH)CO₃ can be a promising candidate as an intermediate layer for fabricating upconversion nanoparticle-based heterostructures. As a proof-of-concept experiment, ligand-free NaGdF₄:Yb/Tm upconversion nanoparticles were first prepared as core nanoparticles. The Y(OH)CO₃ shell was then directly coated on the NaGdF₄:Yb/Tm upconversion nanoparticles in an aqueous solution using urea and Y(NO₃)₃, by a homogeneous precipitation approach. The thickness of the resulting Y(OH)CO₃ shell could be tuned by adjusting the amounts of either urea or Y(NO₃)₃. The as-coated Y(OH)CO₃ shell could be easily converted to YOF by heating at 300 ℃, yielding NaGdF₄:Yb/Tm@YOF core-shell heterostructured nanoparticles. In addition, we found that the NaGdF₄ core could be transformed to lanthanide oxide fluoride if the NaGdF₄:Yb/Tm@Y(OH)CO₃ core-shell nanoparticles were heated at 350 ℃. We also observed that treating the NaGdF₄:Yb/Tm@Y(OH)CO₃ core-shell nanoparticles at even higher temperatures (e.g., 400 ℃) produced aggregations of nanoparticles without regular morphologies. The transformation of the shell can be attributed to the decomposition of Y(OH)CO₃ and reactions between the Y(OH)CO₃ shell and NaGdF₄ core. Meanwhile, the transformation of the NaGdF₄ core at relatively high temperatures could be primarily due to the reactions between Y(OH)CO₃ and NaGdF₄. Notably, in this study, the core-shell structured nanoparticles, with either a Y(OH)CO₃ or YOF shell, maintained the photon upconversion properties of NaGdF₄:Yb/Tm upconversion nanoparticles. In addition, the method used here could be extended to the coating of other shells such as Tb(OH)CO₃ and Yb(OH)CO₃ on upconversion nanoparticles. Moreover, the NaGdF₄:Yb/Tm@Y(OH)CO₃ core-shell nanoparticles could be transformed to other nanoparticles with novel structures such as yolk-shell nanoparticles. These results can pave the way for preparing upconversion nanoparticle-based heterostructures and multifunctional composites, thus promoting new applications of upconversion nanoparticles.

Key words:
• Lanthanide
•  /  Doping
•  /  Luminescence
•  /  Core-shell
•  /  Nanomaterials

• 1. [1]

     Dong, H.; Du, S. R.; Zheng, X. Y.; Lyu, G. M.; Sun, L. D.; Li, L. D.; Zhang, P. Z.; Zhang, C.; Yan, C. H. Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 10725. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00091

  2. [2]

     Chen, S.; Weitemier, A. Z.; Zeng, X.; He, L.; Wang, X.; Tao, Y.; Huang, A. J. Y.; Hashimotodani, Y.; Kano, M.; Iwasaki, H.; et al. Science 2018, 359, 679. doi: 10.1126/science.aaq1144

  3. [3]

     Feng, Y.; Yang, C.; Fang, W.; Huang, B.; Shao, Q.; Huang, X. Nano Energy 2019, 58, 234. doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.01.036

  4. [4]

     Bu, L.; Zhang, N.; Guo, S.; Zhang, X.; Li, J.; Yao, J.; Wu, T.; Lu, G.; Ma, J. Y.; Su, D.; et al. Science 2016, 354, 1410. doi: 10.1126/science.aah6133

  5. [5]

     Yuan, Z.; Zhang, L.; Li, S.; Zhang, W.; Lu, M.; Pan, Y.; Xie, X.; Huang, L.; Huang, W. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 15507. doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b10122

  6. [6]

     Fan, Y.; Liu, L.; Zhang, F. Nano Today 2019, 25, 68. doi: 10.1016/j.nantod.2019.02.009

  7. [7]

     Chaudhuri, G. R.; Paria, S. Chem. Rev. 2012, 112, 2373. doi: 10.1021/cr100449n

  8. [8]

     Hudry, D.; Howard, I. A.; Popescu, R.; Gerthsen, D.; Richards, B. S. Adv. Mater. 2019, 31, 1900623. doi: 10.1002/adma.201900623

  9. [9]

     Chen, G.; Ågren, H.; Ohulchanskyy, T. Y.; Prasad, P. N. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2015, 44, 1680. doi: 10.1039/C4CS00170B

  10. [10]

      Chen, X.; Peng, D.; Ju, Q.; Wang, F. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2015, 44, 1318. doi: 10.1039/C4CS00151F

  11. [11]

      Yu, S.; Tu, D.; Lian, W.; Xu, J.; Chen, X. Sci. China Mater. 2019, 62, 1071. doi: 10.1007/s40843-019-9414-4

  12. [12]

      Zhou, B.; Shi, B.; Jin, D.; Liu, X. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2015, 10, 924. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2015.251

  13. [13]

      Yang, D.; Ma, P.; Hou, Z.; Cheng, Z.; Li, C.; Lin, J. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2015, 44, 1416. doi: 10.1039/C4CS00155A

  14. [14]

      Lyu, L.; Cheong, H.; Ai, X.; Zhang, W.; Li, J.; Yang, H. H.; Lin, J.; Xing, B. NPG Asia Mater. 2018, 10, 685. doi: 10.1038/s41427-018-0065-y

  15. [15]

      Zhang, Z.; Shikha, S.; Liu, J.; Zhang, J.; Mei, Q.; Zhang, Y. Anal. Chem. 2019, 91, 548. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b04049

  16. [16]

      Hirsh, D. A.; Johnson, N. J. J.; van Veggel, F. C. J. M.; Schurko, R. W. Chem. Mater. 2015, 27, 6495. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b01986

  17. [17]

      白华荣, 范换换, 张晓兵, 陈卓, 谭蔚泓.物理化学学报, 2018, 34, 348. doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201708311Bai, H. R.; Fan, H. H.; Zhang, X. B.; Chen, Z.; Tan, W. H. Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. 2018, 34, 348. doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201708311

  18. [18]

      Arboleda, C.; He, S.; Stubelius, A.; Johnson, N. J. J.; Almutairi, A. Chem. Mater. 2019, 31, 3103. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b04057

  19. [19]

      Zhao, H.; Xia, J.; Yin, D.; Luo, M.; Yan, C.; Du, Y. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2019, 390, 32. doi: 10.1016/j.ccr.2019.03.011

  20. [20]

      Cui, C.; Tou, M.; Li, M.; Luo, Z.; Xiao, L.; Bai, S.; Li, Z. Inorg. Chem. 2017, 56, 2328. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6b03079

  21. [21]

      Tang, Y.; Di, W.; Zhai, X.; Yang, R.; Qin, W. ACS Catal. 2013, 3, 405. doi: 10.1021/cs300808r

  22. [22]

      Li, Y.; Di, Z.; Gao, J.; Cheng, P.; Di, C.; Zhang, G.; Liu, B.; Shi, X.; Sun, L. D.; Li, L.; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 13804. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b07302

  23. [23]

      Xu, J.; Xu, L.; Wang, C.; Yang, R.; Zhuang, Q.; Han, X.; Dong, Z.; Zhu, W.; Peng, R.; Liu, Z. ACS Nano 2017, 11, 4463. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.7b00715

  24. [24]

      Feng, L.; He, F.; Dai, Y.; Gai, S.; Zhong, C.; Li, C.; Yang, P. Biomater. Sci. 2017, 5, 2456. doi: 10.1039/C7BM00798A

  25. [25]

      Chen, J.; Zhang, D.; Zou, Y.; Wang, Z.; Hao, M.; Zheng, M.; Xue, X.; Pan, X.; Lu, Y.; Wang, J.; et al. J. Mater. Chem. B 2018, 6, 7862. doi: 10.1039/C8TB02213E

  26. [26]

      Dong, H.; Sun, L. D.; Li, L. D.; Si, R.; Liu, R.; Yan, C. H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 18492. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b11836

  27. [27]

      Su, Q.; Feng, W.; Yang, D.; Li, F. Acc. Chem. Res. 2017, 50, 32. doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.6b00382

  28. [28]

      Zuo, J.; Sun, D.; Tu, L.; Wu, Y.; Cao, Y.; Xue, B.; Zhang, Y.; Chang, Y.; Liu, X.; Kong, X.; et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 3054. doi: 10.1002/anie.201711606

  29. [29]

      Lay, A.; Siefe, C.; Fischer, S.; Mehlenbacher, R. D.; Ke, F.; Mao, W. L.; Alivisatos, A. P.; Goodman, M. B.; Dionne, J. A. Nano Lett. 2018, 18, 4454. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b01535

  30. [30]

      Yang, G.; Yang, D.; Yang, P.; Lv, R.; Li, C.; Zhong, C.; He, F.; Gai, S.; Lin, J. Chem. Mater. 2015, 27, 7957. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b03136

  31. [31]

      Tou, M.; Luo, Z.; Bai, S.; Liu, F.; Chai, Q.; Li, S.; Li, Z. Mater. Sci. Eng. C 2017, 70, 1141. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2016.03.038

  32. [32]

      Zhang, F.; Braun, G. B.; Pallaoro, A.; Zhang, Y.; Shi, Y.; Cui, D.; Moskovits, M.; Zhao, D.; Stucky, G. D. Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 61. doi: 10.1021/nl202949y

  33. [33]

      Wang, W.; Zhao, M.; Zhang, C.; Qian, H. Chem. Rec. 2019, 19, doi: 10.1002/tcr.201900006

  34. [34]

      Chen, G.; Qiu, H.; Prasad, P. N.; Chen, X. Chem. Rev. 2014, 114, 5161. doi: 10.1021/cr400425h

  35. [35]

      Liu, K. C.; Zhang, Z. Y.; Shan, C. X.; Feng, Z. Q.; Li, J. S.; Song, C. L.; Bao, Y. N.; Qi, X. H.; Dong, B. Light Sci. Appl. 2016, 5, e16136.doi: 10.1038/lsa.2016.136

  36. [36]

      Wang, Y.; Yang, G.; Wang, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Jiang, H.; Han, Y.; Yang, P. Nanoscale 2017, 9, 4759. doi: 10.1039/C6NR09030C

  37. [37]

      Wang, F.; Liu, X. Acc. Chem. Res. 2014, 47, 1378. doi: 10.1021/ar5000067

  38. [38]

      Cheng, X.; Pan, Y.; Yuan, Z.; Wang, X.; Su, W.; Yin, L.; Xie, X.; Huang, L. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2018, 28, 1800208. doi: 10.1002/adfm.201800208

  39. [39]

      Yan, C.; Dadvand, A.; Rosei, F.; Perepichka, D. F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 8868. doi: 10.1021/ja103743t

  40. [40]

      Zhang, F.; Wang, W.; Cong, H.; Luo, L.; Zha, Z.; Qian, H. Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 2017, 34, 1600222. doi: 10.1002/ppsc.201600222

  41. [41]

      Ling, X.; Shi, R.; Zhang, J.; Liu, D.; Weng, M.; Zhang, C.; Lu, M.; Xie, X.; Huang, L.; Huang, W. ACS Sens. 2018, 3, 1683. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.8b00368

  42. [42]

      Xu, Z.; Ma, P.; Li, C.; Hou, Z.; Zhai, X.; Huang, S.; Lin, J. Biomaterials 2011, 32, 4161. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2011.02.026

  43. [43]

      Lv, C.; Di, W.; Liu, Z.; Zheng, K.; Qin, W. Dalton Trans. 2014, 43, 3681. doi: 10.1039/c3dt53213e

•