Morphology controlled synthesis of Fe³⁺-doped upconversion nanomaterials

This work details the synthesis of paramagnetic upconversion nanoparticles doped with Fe³⁺ in various morphologies via the thermal decomposition method, followed by comprehensive characterization of their structures, optical properties and magnetism using diverse analytical techniques. Our findings demonstrate that by precisely modulating the ratio of oleic acid to octadecene in the solvent, one can successfully obtain hexagonal nanodiscs with a consistent and well-defined morphology. Further adjustments in the oleic acid to octadecene ratio, coupled with fine-tuning of the Na⁺/F^- ratio, led to the production of small-sized nanorods with uniform morphology. Significantly, all Fe³⁺-doped nanoparticles displayed pronounced paramagnetism, with magnetic susceptibility measurements at 1 T and room temperature of 0.15 emu g^-1 and 0.14 emu g^-1 for the nanodiscs and nanorods, respectively. To further enhance their magnetic properties, we replaced the Y-matrix with a Gd-matrix, and by fine-tuning the oleic acid/octadecene and Na⁺/F^- ratios, we achieved nanoparticles with uniform morphology. The magnetic susceptibility was 0.82 emu g^-1 at 1 T and room temperature. Simultaneously, we could control the nanoparticle size by altering the synthesis temperature. These upconversion nanostructures, characterized by both paramagnetic properties and regular morphology, represent promising dual-mode nanoprobe candidates for optical biological imaging and magnetic resonance imaging.