Boosting Persistent Luminescence with Spatially Confined Ion Doping for Profiling Bacterial-Environment Interactions

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Ion doping is crucial for enhancing persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) efficiency.
• Current doping strategies for PLNPs require optimization to overcome limitations like concentration quenching.
• Understanding the precise effects of ion doping on persistent luminescence is essential for developing advanced materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically investigate the effects of heterovalent K+ doping on CaSc2O4:Tb PLNPs.
• To refine ion doping strategies for improved persistent luminescence efficiency.
• To develop a nanoprobe for monitoring bacterial-environment interactions using enhanced PLNPs.

Main Methods:

• Investigated heterovalent K+ doping in CaSc2O4:Tb PLNPs.
• Designed and synthesized core-shell structured PLNPs (CaSc2O4:Tb@CaSc2O4:K and CaSc2O4:K@CaSc2O4:Tb).
• Constructed a reversible K@Tb@Fe-TA nanoprobe for bacterial interaction monitoring.

Main Results:

• Optimal K+ doping ratio in codoped CaSc2O4:Tb,K was limited to 1.5% due to concentration quenching.
• Core-shell structures (Tb@K and K@Tb) increased the optimal K+ doping ratio to 7% and boosted luminescence intensities by 1.9-2.2 times.
• The K@Tb@Fe-TA nanoprobe successfully monitored bacterial-environment interactions by detecting Fe3+ reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens.

Conclusions:

• A superior ion-doping strategy using core-shell structures significantly enhances persistent luminescence efficiency in PLNPs.
• The developed nanoprobe offers a promising tool for tracking bacterial-environment interactions, with potential for biomedical applications.
• This work advances the development of PLNPs for diverse applications, including biomedical imaging and sensing.