We report for the first time continuous flow synthesis of NaYF₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ upconverting nanocrystals in a capillary-based microfluidic reaction system. Two sequential temperature steps were employed for heating with an initial high temperature (180°C) to burst nuclei and a subsequent low temperature (110°C) to promote growth of the nanocrystals in order to obtain high-performance nanocrystals. The prepared nanocrystals emit bright green and red emissions under excitation of 974 nm diode laser. Our research opens the door for the synthesis of upconverting nanocrystals in microfluidic systems.

Date Published: 11 February 2011
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 7909, Colloidal Quantum Dots/Nanocrystals for Biomedical Applications VI, 790917 (11 February 2011); doi: 10.1117/12.874348

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7909:
Colloidal Quantum Dots/Nanocrystals for Biomedical Applications VI
Wolfgang J. Parak; Kenji Yamamoto M.D.; Marek Osinski, Editor(s)