Development of nanoparticulate materials of lanthanide-doped rare earth tantalates for applications in Photonics

Abstract

The goal of this project is the preparation of luminescent lanthanide-doped (Ln3+) rare earth tantalate nanoparticles, aiming for multifunctional materials that work in both Photonics and Biophotonics applications. The materials will be prepared by sol-gel methodology using alkoxy precursors. This project focus is the structural and spectroscopic study of the nanoparticles and these synthesized materials may be used for applications in the Photonics and Biophotonics areas, especially in the Health sector, working as optical markers and energy converters for theranostics applications The preparation and structural and spectroscopic characterization as a function of composition, doping and thermal annealing represent the basis of the academic study which will be developed, continuing the promising results obtained previously in our group. To this end, a systematic study of the optical, structural, morphological and spectroscopic (vibrational and electronic) properties will be carried out. Since one of the main purposes of this work is the application in biological systems, the choice of these materials doping will be based on lanthanides which present emission in the so-called biological windows in the Near Infrared (NIR) Region. Also, luminescence in the visible range will be studied aiming for the great potential of the emission of upconverting processes, enabling the application as infrared to visible radiation converters. Studies on the dependence of luminescent properties as a function of the dopants will be explored, resulting in different crystalline structures according to the concentration and nature of the rare earth doping ion. In parallel, a study of these same materials will be performed using X-ray excitation, aiming for their applications as scintillators. Subsequently, a systematic study on the morphological control for the formation of nanoparticles will be performed, in order to apply these materials in biological systems. Cytotoxicity and application of the particles as light converters for theranostics application will be also evaluated. (AU)