Research Overview
We apply versatile nanoengineering approaches to produce nanomaterials with unconventional optical properties, i.e., photon-upconversion and persistent luminescence, for novel biomedical applications. In particular, we design nanomaterials with unconventional luminescence by engineering the lanthanide-doping, the energy-related nanostructures, and inter/intra-nanoparticle energy transfers. These nanoparticles are produced through controllable bottom-up syntheses, thus possessing uniform size and morphology, being desirable for biomedical applications. In addition, the controllable syntheses allow me to tune the optical properties in nanoparticles through fabricating heterostructured nanocrystals. Thereafter, we perform various surface biofunctionalizations on nanoparticles, making them biocompactible, specific targeting, and photon-activitable in vivo. These unconventional luminescence nanomaterials demonstrated exceptional applications for wireless NIR-optogenetics in deep tissue, ultra-sensitive bioimaging, and portable point-of-care biosensing. |
Unconventional Luminescence: Upconversion and Persistent Luminescence
In conventional luminescence, a high-energy excitation photon is absorbed by the materials and produces the rapid emission of a low-energy photon. In contrast, unconventional luminescence displays unique performance in the emission wavelength and luminescence lifetime. In photon-upconversion, taking advantage of metastable intermediate energy levels, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) can successively absorb two or more low-energy photons and produce a high-energy photon. Thus, UCNPs can bring deep tissue-penetrating NIR light for wireless in vivo photoactivations. In persistent luminescence, taking advantage of the energy traps, persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) store excitation energy for long period and produced superlong lifetime afterglow (ranging from seconds to hours or even days) after excitation cessed. Therefore, persistent luminescence is exmpted from the autofluorescence interferences, enabling portable and ultrasensitive bioimaging/biosensing. |
Unconventional luminescence in photon-upconversion fashion or emitting superlong lifetime persistent luminescence.
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Research Topics
- Controllable nanocrystal synthesis
- Heterostructured UCNPs with enhanced luminescence
- Versatile biofunctionalizations
- Novel bioapplications: UCNP-mediated NIR-optogenetics
- Exploring advanced light sciences in lanthanide-doped nanocrystals: room temperature superfluorescence
2. Enhancing uniform PLNPs for ultrasensitive bioimaging.
- Controllable synthesis of heterostructured PLNPs
- Enhancing luminescence in PLNPs
- Ultrasensitive bioimaging/biodetection