Fraunhofer Center for Applied Nanotechnology CAN (a research division of Fraunhofer-IAP, Golm, Germany)Address: Grindelallee -117, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Dr. Rajesh Komban
Fraunhofer Center for Applied Nanotechnology CAN (a research division of Fraunhofer-IAP, Golm, Germany)Address: Grindelallee -117, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Yttrium oxide (Y2O3) is considered as one of the best host lattices for europium (Eu3+) based red emitting phosphors because of its unit cell and good photo-saturation properties.
This paper presents a strategy to convert hydrophilic cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) into a highly cross-linked hydrophobic network with inorganic nanoparticles to develop a gel ink suitable for gel 3D printing. The CNF were chemically modified initially through a single-electron transfer-living radical polymerization (SET-LRP) of stearyl acrylate (SA) in the presence of the surface-modified cobalt iron oxide (CoFe2O4, CFO) nanoparticles. The modified CFO nanoparticles provide their multifunctional properties, such as magnetic and electrochemical, to the CNF hybrid network and, at the same time, act as cross-linking agents between the nanocellulose fibrils, while the grafted poly-stearyl acrylate (PSA) introduces a strong hydrophobicity in the network. A suitable gel ink form of this CNF–PSA–CFO material for gel 3D printing was achieved together with a certain solvent. Some test structure prints were directly obtained with the CNF–PSA–CFO gel and were used to evaluate the consolidation of such 3D objects through solvent exchange and freeze-drying while also keeping the magnetic and electrochemical properties of CFO in the CNF-based composite intact. The pristine CNF and CFO particles and the CNF–PSA–CFO were characterized by FTIR, SEM, XPS, TGA, VSM, and CV measurements.
With their dipole‐forbidden 4f transitions, lanthanides doped in nanoparticles promise high excited state lifetimes and quantum yields that are required for applications such as composite lasers or nanoscale quantum memories. Quenching at the nanoparticle surface, however, severely reduces the lifetime and quantum yield and requires resource‐consuming experimental optimization that could not be replaced by simulations due to the limitations of existing approaches until now. Here, a versatile approach is presented that fully accounts for spatiotemporal dynamics and reliably predicts the lifetimes and quantum yields of lanthanide nanoparticles. LiYF4:Pr3+nanoparticles are synthesized as a model system, and the lifetimes of a concentration series (≈10 nm, 0.7−1.47 at%) are used to match the model parameters to the experimental conditions. Employing these parameters, the lifetimes and quantum yields of a size series (≈5 at%, 12−21 nm) are predicted with a maximum uncertainty of 12.6%. To demonstrate the potential of the model, a neutral shell is added around the core particles in the model which extends the lifetime by up to 44%. Furthermore, spatiotemporal analysis of single nanoparticles points toward a new type of energy trapping in lanthanide nanoparticles. Consequently, the numerical optimization brings applications such as efficient nanoparticle lasers or quantum memories within reach.
Herein, highly stable colloidal LiYF 4 :Pr 3+ nanocrystals are presented for the first time. Through extensive comparison of their spectroscopic behavior with bulk crystals an unusual intense bulk like emission in the visible spectrum was observed.
Calibration of excitation power dependence in ratiometric luminescent nanothermometers can be made superfluous through symbolic regression of multiple intensity ratios. We showcase this for the well-known NaYF4:Yb 3+ ,Er 3+ upconversion nanoparticles.