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Controlling persistent luminescence in nanocrystalline phosphors

Nature Materials volume 22, pages 289–304 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Persistent luminescent phosphors can store light energy in advance and release it with a long-lasting afterglow emission. With their ability to eliminate in situ excitation and store energy for long periods of time, they are promising for broad applications, including background-free bioimaging, high-resolution radiography, conformal electronics imaging and multilevel encryption. This Review provides an overview of various strategies for trap manipulation in persistent luminescent nanomaterials. We highlight key examples in the design and preparation of nanomaterials with tunable persistent luminescence, particularly in the near-infrared range. In subsequent sections, we cover the most current developments and trends concerning the use of these nanomaterials in biological applications. Moreover, we assess their advantages and disadvantages compared with conventional luminescent materials for biological applications. We also discuss future research directions and challenges, such as insufficient brightness at the single-particle level, and possible solutions to these challenges.

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Fig. 1: Common defects and strategies for trap manipulation in persistent luminescent materials.
Fig. 2: General strategies for tuning persistent luminescence in the UV, visible and NIR regions.
Fig. 3: Common strategies to improve persistent luminescence of nanophosphors.
Fig. 4: Persistent luminescent nanomaterials for autofluorescence-free biological applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (grant no. A1983c0038); the National Research Foundation, the Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore under its Investigatorship Programme (award no. NRF-NRFI05-2019-0003); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos 10804099, 21804119, 21771135 and 21871071); the Key Projects of Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation (project no. LZ18B050002); and the China Scholarship Council (no. 201408330001).

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  1. Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Liangliang Liang, Jiaye Chen, Xian Qin & Xiaogang Liu

  2. College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China

    Kang Shao & Zaifa Pan

  3. Center for Functional Materials, National University of Singapore Suzhou Research Institute, Suzhou, China

    Xiaogang Liu

  4. Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore, Singapore

    Xiaogang Liu

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L.L. and Z.P. wrote this review, and X.L. edited it. J.C., K.S. and X.Q. assisted in the preparation of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zaifa Pan or Xiaogang Liu.

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Liang, L., Chen, J., Shao, K. et al. Controlling persistent luminescence in nanocrystalline phosphors. Nat. Mater. 22, 289–304 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01468-y

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