Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2017, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (7): 1446-1452.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201704102

• ARTICLE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Synthesis of Poly(acrylic acid)-Functionalized La1-xEuxF3 Nanocrystals with High Photoluminescence for Cellular Imaging

Fan CHEN1,Zhong-Yue WANG1,*(),Yan-Yan ZHANG1,Ke-Han YU1,Li-Xing WENG2,Wei WEI1,*()   

  1. 1 School of Optoelectronic Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China
    2 Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, P. R. China
  • Received:2017-01-03 Published:2017-05-31
  • Contact: Zhong-Yue WANG,Wei WEI E-mail:zywang@njupt.edu.cn;weiwei@njupt.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    the National Basic Research Program of China(2012CB933301);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51502144)

Abstract:

Monodisperse La1-xEuxF3 nanoparticles (NPs) were functionalized by poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) via a one-pot modified hydrothermal method. The morphology, crystal structure, surface groups, and luminescence properties of the as-produced La1-xEuxF3@PAA NPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The produced nanoparticles were (7±3) nm in size, water soluble, and buffer stable, with good photostability and biocompatibility. In vitro imaging revealed the low cytotoxicity of the as-synthesized NPs incubated with HeLa cancer cells. Thus, the colloidal La1-xEuxF3@PAA NPs exhibit great potential for use as optical imaging probes in biological applications.

Key words: Lanthanide nanoparticle, Hydrothermal, Aqueous dispersion, Efficient luminescence, Bioimaging