Print Email Facebook Twitter Nucleation and Growth of Bipyramidal Yb:LiYF4 Nanocrystals─Growing Up in a Hot Environment Title Nucleation and Growth of Bipyramidal Yb:LiYF4 Nanocrystals─Growing Up in a Hot Environment Author Mulder, J.T. (TU Delft ChemE/Opto-electronic Materials) Jenkinson, Kellie (Universiteit Antwerpen) Toso, Stefano (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia) Prato, Mirko (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia) Evers, W.H. (TU Delft BN/Afdelingsbureau) Bals, Sara (Universiteit Antwerpen) Manna, Liberato (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia) Houtepen, A.J. (TU Delft ChemE/Opto-electronic Materials) Date 2023 Abstract Lanthanide-doped LiYF4 (Ln:YLF) is commonly used for a broad variety of optical applications, such as lasing, photon upconversion and optical refrigeration. When synthesized as nanocrystals (NCs), this material is also of interest for biological applications and fundamental physical studies. Until now, it was unclear how Ln:YLF NCs grow from their ionic precursors into tetragonal NCs with a well-defined, bipyramidal shape and uniform dopant distribution. Here, we study the nucleation and growth of ytterbium-doped LiYF4 (Yb:YLF), as a template for general Ln:YLF NC syntheses. We show that the formation of bipyramidal Yb:YLF NCs is a multistep process starting with the formation of amorphous Yb:YLF spheres. Over time, these spheres grow via Ostwald ripening and crystallize, resulting in bipyramidal Yb:YLF NCs. We further show that prolonged heating of the NCs results in the degradation of the NCs, observed by the presence of large LiF cubes and small, irregular Yb:YLF NCs. Due to the similarity in chemical nature of all lanthanide ions our work sheds light on the formation stages of Ln:YLF NCs in general. Subject LanthanidesLiYF4YLFYtterbiumNanocrystalsnucleation and growthDopingPhosphors To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:04871dc3-8642-45c5-a7e6-447fd36baa27 DOI https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c00502 ISSN 0897-4756 Source Chemistry of Materials, 35 (14), 5311-5321 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2023 J.T. Mulder, Kellie Jenkinson, Stefano Toso, Mirko Prato, W.H. Evers, Sara Bals, Liberato Manna, A.J. Houtepen Files PDF acs.chemmater.3c00502.pdf 21.64 MB PDF acs.chemmater.3c00502.pdf 21.39 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:04871dc3-8642-45c5-a7e6-447fd36baa27/datastream/OBJ1/view