RT Journal Article
T1 Upconverting Nanoparticles in Aqueous Media: Not a Dead-End Road. Avoiding Degradation by Using Hydrophobic Polymer Shells
A1 Méndez González, Diego
A1 Torres Vera, Vivian Andrea
A1 Zabala Gutiérrez, Irene
A1 Gerke, Christoph
A1 Cascales Sedano, Concepción
A1 Rubio Retama, Jorge
A1 Gómez Calderón, Óscar
A1 Melle Hernández, Sonia
A1 Laurenti, Marco
AB The stunning optical properties of upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) have inspired promising biomedical technologies. Nevertheless, their transfer to aqueous media is often accompanied by intense luminescence quenching, partial dissolution by water, and even complete degradation by molecules such as phosphates. Currently, these are major issues hampering the translation of UCNPs to the clinic. In this work, a strategy is developed to coat and protect β-NaYF4 UCNPs against these effects, by growing a hydrophobic polymer shell (HPS) through miniemulsion polymerization of styrene (St), or St and methyl methacrylate mixtures. This allows one to obtain single core@shell UCNPs@HPS with a final diameter of ≈60–70 nm. Stability studies reveal that these HPSs serve as a very effective barrier, impeding polar molecules to affect UCNPs optical properties. Even more, it allows UCNPs to withstand aggressive conditions such as high dilutions (5 μg mL−1), high phosphate concentrations (100 mm), and high temperatures (70 °C). The physicochemical characterizations prove the potential of HPSs to overcome the current limitations of UCNPs. This strategy, which can be applied to other nanomaterials with similar limitations, paves the way toward more stable and reliable UCNPs with applications in life sciences.
PB Wiley
SN 1613-6810
YR 2021
FD 2021-12-13
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/4617
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/4617
LA eng
NO Received: September 15, 2021 / Revised: November 4, 2021 / Published online: December 13, 2021; Issue Online:24 February 2022
NO Unión Europea. Horizonte 2020
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid/Banco de Santander
NO Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (España)
NO Fundación para la investigación biomédica del Hospital Ramón y Cajal (España)
NO Gobierno de Colombia
NO Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action - Comisión Europea
DS Docta Complutense
RD 17 ago 2024