Au nanorod decoration on NaYF 4 :Yb/Tm nanoparticles for enhanced emission and wavelength-dependent biomolecular sensing

• Main Authors: Kannan, Palanisamy, Abdul Rahim, Ferhan, Chen, Rui, Teng, Xue, Huang, Ling, Sun, Handong, Kim, Dong-Hwan
• Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Physics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/99519; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17399
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

We introduce gold nanorods (GNRs) decoration on NaYF4:Yb/Tm upconversion nanocrystals (UCNCs) by functionalizing the UCNCs with polyamidoamine generation 1 (PAMAM G1) dendrimer, followed by a single-step seed-mediated growth of long-range GNRs to enhance “biological window” upconversion emission. The up-conversion emission of GNR-decorated UCNCs can be enhanced beyond the level typically obtainable using shell-like structures up to 27-fold enhancement. Also, the enhancement can be tuned at different wavelength regions by varying the GNR aspect ratio. The GNR-decorated UCNC is further modified with 2-thiouracil for nonenzymatic detection of uric acid, revealing a detection limit as 1 pM.