Synthesis of Er:YAG Nanocrystals and Comparative Spectroscopic Analysis with Bulk Counterparts.

Single-crystal Er:YAG has long been used as a laser material, and recent work has shown polycrystalline ceramic Er:YAG to be a suitable laser material, with benefits of lower cost and easier production. However, relatively little work has been done with the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of Er:YAG nanocrystals. In this work, we present the synthesis of nanocrystalline Er:YAG and the results of comparative spectroscopic characterization with single-crystal and polycrystalline ceramic counterparts.

Designing Highly Crystalline Multifunctional Multicolor Luminescence Nanosystem for Tracking Breast Cancer Heterogeneity.

Breast tumor heterogeneity is responsible for the death of ~ 40,000 women in 2017 in USA. Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are very aggressive and it is the only breast cancer subgroup still lacking effective therapeutic. As a result, early stage detection of TNBC is vital and it will have huge significant in the clinics.

PMAO coated Na(GdLu)F:Nd nanocrystals as multifunctional contrast agent with NIR optical, X-ray and magnetic imaging properties.

Nanomaterials with multiple imaging functionalities are nowadays getting tremendous attention due to their several superior features compared to existing contrast agents. By developing a nanomaterial that exhibit multiple functionalities, the possibility to increase the amount of imaging information obtained in a short amount of time is becoming more and more a reality. In this work, we developed a multifunctional nanocrystals (NCs), Na(GdLu)F:Nd, that combines multiple rare-earth features as an all-in-one imaging agent comprised of optical imaging, magnetic imaging, and X-ray imaging by utilizing the superparamagnetic features of Gd, the high X-ray absorption cross section of Lu, and the NIR fluorescence of Nd.

Emission enhancement through Nd-Yb energy transfer in multifunctional NaGdF nanocrystals.

The growing need for biomedical contrast agents has led to the current development of multi-functional materials such as lanthanide-based nanoparticles (NPs). The optical and magnetic properties these nanoparticles (NPs) possess are important to enhance current biomedical imaging techniques. To increase the optical emissions of the nanoparticles, neodymium (Nd) and ytterbium (Yb) were introduced into a magnetic host of NaGdF.

Synthesis and characterization of Na(GdLu)F: Nd,a core-shell free multifunctional contrast agent.

Compared to conventional core-shell structures, core-shell free nanoparticles with multiple functionalities offer several advantages such as minimal synthetic complexity and low production cost. In this paper, we present the synthesis and characterization of Nd doped Na(GdLu)F as a core-shell free nanoparticle system with three functionalities. Nanocrystals with 20 nm diameter, high crystallinity and a narrow particle size distributions were synthesized by the solvothermal method and characterized by various analytical techniques to understand their phase and morphology.