The synthesis of rare earth fluoride based nanoparticles

The requirement for narrow emission profiles and systems that do not include metals perceived to be cytotoxic, has led to an increase in the reports on rare-earth (Ln) materials, with fluoride-based materials in particular attracting attention. This class of compounds includes rare-earth fluorides (LnF(3)), rare-earth oxyfluorides (LnOF) and alkali metal rare-earth fluorides (MLnF(4), where M represents an alkali metal). Here we will describe the main reactions outlining key developments in roughly chronological order.