Surface Functionalisation of Upconversion Nanoparticles with Different Moieties for Biomedical Applications
1
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
2
Institute of Biomedical Materials and Devices (IBMD), Faculty of Science, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Surfaces 2018, 1(1), 96-121; https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces1010009
Received: 14 October 2018
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Revised: 6 November 2018
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Accepted: 7 November 2018
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Published: 11 November 2018
Lanthanide ion-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) that can convert low-energy infrared photons into high-energy visible and ultraviolet photons, are becoming highly sought-after for advanced biomedical and biophotonics applications. Their unique luminescent properties enable UCNPs to be applied for diagnosis, including biolabeling, biosensing, bioimaging, and multiple imaging modality, as well as therapeutic treatments including photothermal and photodynamic therapy, bio-reductive chemotherapy and drug delivery. For the employment of the inorganic nanomaterials into biological environments, it is critical to bridge the gap in between nanoparticles and biomolecules via surface modifications and subsequent functionalisation. This work reviews the various ways to surface modify and functionalise UCNPs so as to impart different functional molecular groups to the UCNPs surfaces for a broad range of applications in biomedical areas. We discussed commonly used base functionalities, including carboxyl, amino and thiol moieties that are typically imparted to UCNP surfaces so as to provide further functional capacity.
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Keywords:
upconversion; nanoparticles; lanthanide; surface modification; functionalisation; ligand engineering; silanisation
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Gee, A.; Xu, X. Surface Functionalisation of Upconversion Nanoparticles with Different Moieties for Biomedical Applications. Surfaces 2018, 1, 96-121. https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces1010009
AMA Style
Gee A, Xu X. Surface Functionalisation of Upconversion Nanoparticles with Different Moieties for Biomedical Applications. Surfaces. 2018; 1(1):96-121. https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces1010009
Chicago/Turabian StyleGee, Alex, and Xiaoxue Xu. 2018. "Surface Functionalisation of Upconversion Nanoparticles with Different Moieties for Biomedical Applications" Surfaces 1, no. 1: 96-121. https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces1010009
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