Issue 44, 2021

Synergistic strategy of rare-earth doped nanoparticles for NIR-II biomedical imaging

Abstract

Featuring simultaneous multicolor imaging for multiple targets, a synergistic strategy has become promising for fluorescence imaging applications. Visible and first near infrared (NIR-I, 700–900 nm) fluorophores have been explored for multicolor imaging to achieve good multi-target capacity, but they are largely hampered by the narrow imaging bands available (400–900 nm, bandwidth 500 nm), the broad emission spectra of many fluorophores, shallow tissue penetration and scattering loss. With attractive characteristic emission peaks in the second NIR window (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm), a narrow emission spectrum, and deeper tissue penetration capability, rare-earth doped nanoparticles (RENPs) have been considered by us to be outstanding candidates for multicolor bioimaging. Herein, two RENPs, NaYF4:Yb20Er2@NaYF4 and NaYF4:Nd5@NaYF4, were prepared and modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to explore simultaneous imaging in the NIR-IIb (1530 nm, under 980 nm laser excitation) and the NIR-II (1060 nm, under 808 nm laser excitation) windows. The PEGylated-RENPs (RENPs@PEG) were able to simultaneously visualize the circulatory system, trace the lymphatic system, and evaluate the skeletal system. Our study demonstrates that RENPs have high synergistic imaging capability in multifunctional biomedical applications using their NIR-II fluorescence. Importantly, the two RENPs@PEG are complementary to each other for higher temporal resolution in NaYF4:Nd5@NaYF4@PEG and higher spatial resolution in NaYF4:Yb20Er2@NaYF4@PEG, which may provide more comprehensive and accurate imaging diagnosis. In conclusion, RENPs are highly promising nanomaterials for multicolor imaging in the NIR-II window.

Graphical abstract: Synergistic strategy of rare-earth doped nanoparticles for NIR-II biomedical imaging

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Jul 2021
Accepted
21 Sep 2021
First published
24 Sep 2021

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021,9, 9116-9122

Synergistic strategy of rare-earth doped nanoparticles for NIR-II biomedical imaging

X. Zhang, S. He, B. Ding, C. Qu, H. Chen, Y. Sun, R. Zhang, X. Lan and Z. Cheng, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021, 9, 9116 DOI: 10.1039/D1TB01640G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements