Microscale Self-Assembly of Upconversion Nanoparticles Driven by Block Copolymer

Qianqian Su; Meng-Tao Zhou; Ming-Zhu Zhou; Qiang Sun; Taotao Ai; Yan Su

doi:10.3389/fchem.2020.00836

Microscale Self-Assembly of Upconversion Nanoparticles Driven by Block Copolymer

Front Chem. 2020 Sep 16:8:836. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2020.00836. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Qianqian Su^{1

2}, Meng-Tao Zhou¹, Ming-Zhu Zhou¹, Qiang Sun³, Taotao Ai⁴, Yan Su⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
³ Center for Functional Materials, NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute, Suzhou, China.
⁴ National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Slag Comprehensive Utilization and Environmental Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong, China.
⁵ Genome Institute of Singapore, Agency of Science Technology and Research, Singapore, Singapore.

Abstract

Lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles can convert low-energy excitation to high-energy emission. The self-assembled upconversion nanoparticles with unique structures have considerable promise in sensors and optical devices due to intriguing properties. However, the assembly of isotropic nanocrystals into anisotropic structures is a fundamental challenge caused by the difficulty in controlling interparticle interactions. Herein, we report a novel approach for the preparation of the chain-like assemblies of upconversion nanoparticles at different scales from nano-scale to micro-scale. The dimension of chain-like assembly can be fine-tuned using various incubation times. Our study observed Y-junction aggregate morphology due to the flexible nature of amphiphilic block copolymer. Furthermore, the prepared nanoparticle assemblies of upconversion nanoparticles with lengths up to several micrometers can serve as novel luminescent nanostructure and offer great opportunities in the fields of optical applications.

Keywords: lanthanide-doped nanoparticles; micro-scale; nanoparticles belt; self-assembly; upconversion nanoparticle.