Organic-Lanthanide Nanoparticle Hybrids for Efficient Photon Absorption and Emission

Lanthanide-doped nanoparticles (LnNPs) show great potential in a broad range of applications, including fluorescent microscopy, deep-tissue theranostics, optogenetics, sensing and anticounterfeiting, due to their unique optical properties. Classically, there are two major limitations of LnNPs - weak absorption and low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), typically <5%. Combining molecular chromophores with LnNPs to form organic-lanthanide nanoparticle hybrids could overcome these issues and enable superior light absorption and fluorescent performance for LnNPs and hence expand their use to optoelectronic applications, including light emission and photon frequency-conversion, and photocatalysis. "Hybrid-Ln-Light" will combine the recent breakthroughs in the host group on the energy transfer and manipulation of triplet excitons with LnNPs and the fellow's material chemistry knowledge and experience with synthesis and characterization of high-brightness LnNPs, to develop new architectures for LnNPs with high PLQYs to combine with molecular chromophores while maintaining efficient triplet energy transfer. The key underlying scientific advance will be to understand and gain control over the interface between the molecular chromophores and the LnNPs. This will enable a new generation of hybrid materials with wide ranging applications in optoelectronics.