Search Results (30)

Understanding the interactions of nanomaterials with complex tumour models is essential for advancing their use in nanomedicine. Calcium fluoride nanoparticles doped with neodymium and yttrium (CaF₂:Nd³⁺,Y³⁺) exhibit promising properties for biomedical applications, particularly for optical sensing and tagging. This study investigates their interaction with 3D cell spheroids derived from breast cancer, from Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) and brain cancer, from Uppsala 87 Malignant Glioma (U-87 MG) cell lines as tumour models. Specific protocols have been developed in Total-reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) to evaluate nanoparticles’ internalisation and diffusion within spheroids by quantifying the concentrations of Ca, Nd, and Y taken up by the cells. Minimal background interference enabled precise multi-element detection in low-volume biological samples, yielding very low detection limits and minimal uncertainties. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of TXRF for quantifying rare-earth-doped nanoparticles in 3D cancer models and reveals that, although both cell lines permit nanoparticle diffusion into cells, higher accumulation is observed in glioblastoma cell spheroids. A Weibull diffusion model was applied to help understand the observed internalisation kinetics of nanoparticles into U-87 MG and MCF-7 spheroids. The relevant differences suggest cell-line-dependent uptake behaviour, potentially influenced by differences in cellular architecture, the porosity of the generated spheroid, and its intercellular 3D microstructure. These findings highlight the importance of tumour-specific interactions in the investigation of nanoparticle systems for targeted cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. Full article

Yttrium–magnesium alloys are commonly employed as processing additives in magnesium alloy materials. Incorporating yttrium into magnesium alloys via Y-Mg intermediate alloys not only minimizes oxidation and burn-off loss but also simplifies operational procedures. Utilizing yttrium–magnesium alloys ensures a stable composition and reliable quality of magnesium alloy products, while contributing to reduced production costs and minimized environmental pollution. In this study, a molten salt co-reduction method was developed for the preparation Y-Mg intermediate alloys. The electrochemical co-reduction behaviors of Y(III) and Mg(II), as well as the transient states of Y-Mg intermediate alloys, were systematically investigated by transient electrochemical techniques. Results indicated that the reduction of Y(III) at the molybdenum (Mo) cathode is a reversible electrochemical process, whereas the reduction of Mg(II) is irreversible and diffusion-controlled. The diffusion coefficient of Y(III) and Mg(II) in the fluoride salt at 1000 °C were determined to be 3.98 × 10⁻⁵ cm²/s and 1.16 × 10⁻³ cm²/s, respectively. Electrochemical calculations revealed that the reduction of Y(III) involves a single-step transfer of three electrons, while Mg(II) involves a single-step transfer of two electrons. The corresponding electrode reactions are Y(III) + 3e⁻→Y and Mg(II) + 2e⁻→Mg, respectively. A Y-Mg alloy sample prepared by constant-current molten salt electrolysis primarily consists of the MgY phase with a composition of 88.38 wt% yttrium and 11.62 wt% magnesium. Full article

Thickness-controlled, easily patterned upconversion (UC) nanofilms are essential for high-precision optoelectronic devices, but challenges such as imprecise thickness control and low fluorescence intensity hinder their application. High-performance lanthanide-doped sodium yttrium fluoride UC materials are typically available in powder form, making direct integration into advanced devices difficult. Although physical vapor deposition (PVD) enables precise film formation, it often produces poor crystalline structures and weak fluorescence. To overcome these limitations, integrating non-noble plasmonic Ni with surface plasmon resonance to enhance fluorescence intensity is a promising yet understudied strategy, likely due to Ni’s ultraviolet resonant wavelength and oxidation susceptibility. This study introduces an integrated Ni-UC nanofilm design, combining an ultrathin Ni layer with a NaYF₄:Tm, Yb UC layer via PVD, followed by post-annealing. Annealing at 500 °C transforms the UC layer into a hexagonal-phase crystal structure while protecting the Ni layer from oxidation. The unannealed UC nanofilm showed no fluorescence, whereas the annealed UC nanofilm displayed clear peaks at 476, 648, and 699 nm. Notably, the integrated Ni-UC nanofilm exhibited fluorescence intensities 5.29, 4.43, and 4.29 times higher at these wavelengths, respectively. Additionally, the integrated design exhibited high transparency and stability, highlighting its protective benefits. These results underscore the potential of the integrated Ni-UC nanofilm for advanced optoelectronics and sensing technologies, offering enhanced fluorescence, micro-processing compatibility, and robust performance in a cost-effective, non-noble plasmonic system. Full article

Y₅F₃[AsO₃]₄ crystallizes needle-shaped in the tetragonal space group P4/ncc with the lattice parameters a = 1143.80(8) pm, c = 1078.41(7) pm and c/a = 0.9428 for Z = 4. The yttrium-fluoride substructure linked via secondary contacts forms a three-dimensional network $\begin{array}{c}3\\ \infty \end{array}${[Y₅F₃]¹²⁺} and the remaining part consists of ψ¹-tetrahedral [AsO₃]³⁻ units, which leave lone-pair channels along [001]. In contrast, platelet-shaped Y₅Cl₃[AsO₃]₄ crystals adopt the monoclinic space group C2/c with the lattice parameters a = 1860.56(9) pm, b = 536.27(3) pm, c = 1639.04(8) pm and β = 105.739(3)° for Z = 4. Condensation of [(Y1,2)O₈]¹³⁻ polyhedra via four common edges each leads to fluorite-like $\begin{array}{c}2\\ \infty \end{array}$ {[(Y1,2)O $\begin{array}{c}e\\ 8/2\end{array}$ ]⁵⁻} layers spreading out parallel to the (100) plane. Their three-dimensional linkage occurs via the (Y3)³⁺ cations with their Cl⁻ ligands on the one hand and the As³⁺ cations with their lone-pairs of electrons on the other, which also form within [AsO₃]³⁻ anions lone-pair channels along [010]. Both colorless compounds can be obtained by solid-state reactions from corresponding mixtures of the binaries (Y₂O₃, As₂O₃ and YX₃ with X = F and Cl) at elevated temperatures of 825 °C, most advantageously under halide-flux assistance (CsBr for Y₅F₃[AsO₃]₄ and ZnCl₂ for Y₅Cl₃[AsO₃]₄). By replacing a few percent of YX₃ with EuX₃ or TbX₃, Eu³⁺- or Tb³⁺-doped samples are accessible, which show red or green luminescence upon excitation with ultraviolet radiation. Full article

In this work, YF₃:Nd³⁺ powder was synthesized using the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method at a low temperature (140 °C) and short synthesis time (1 h). The photoluminescence and optical temperature sensing properties of YF₃:Nd³⁺ were examined using 800 nm laser excitation, focusing on the emission corresponding to the ⁴F_3/2 → ⁴I_9/2 transition of Nd³⁺. The performance of YF₃:Nd³⁺ as an optical temperature sensor was evaluated using the full width at half maximum (FWHM), band broadening at 30% of maximum intensity (Δλ_30%), and valley-to-peak intensity ratio (VPR) techniques. All techniques demonstrated good repeatability and reproducibility. The best results were obtained using the VPR (V1/P1) method, which exhibited the highest relative sensitivity and the lowest temperature uncertainty, with values of 0.69 ± 0.02% K⁻¹ and 0.46 ± 0.09 K at 303 K, respectively. YF₃:Nd³⁺ shows promise as an optical temperature sensor operating entirely within the first biological window. Full article

In this work, we present an advancement in the encapsulation of lithium yttrium fluoride-based (YLiF₄:Yb,Er) upconversion nanocrystals (UCNPs) with silica (SiO₂) shells through a reverse microemulsion technique, achieving UCNPs@SiO₂ core/shell structures. Key parameters of this approach were optimized to eliminate the occurrence of core-free silica particles and ensure a controlled silica shell thickness growth on the UCNPs. The optimal conditions for this method were using 6 mg of UCNPs, 1.5 mL of Igepal CO-520, 0.25 mL of ammonia, and 50 μL of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), resulting in a uniform silica shell around UCNPs with a thickness of 8 nm. The optical characteristics of the silica-encased UCNPs were examined, confirming the retention of their intrinsic upconversion luminescence (UC). Furthermore, we developed a reliable strategy to avoid the coencapsulation of multiple UCNPs within a single silica shell. This approach led to a tenfold increase in the UC luminescence of the annealed particles compared to their nonannealed counterparts, under identical silica shell thickness and excitation conditions. This significant improvement addresses a critical challenge and amplifies the applicability of the resulting UCNPs@SiO₂ core/shell structures in various fields. Full article

Neodymium-doped yttrium fluoride crystal has emerged as one of the most valuable functional materials, and has thus become a research hotspot and shown promising application value in recent years. In this work, utilizing 460 keV H and 6.0 MeV C ions implantation, the damage behavior, lattice structure change, spectral, and electrical characteristics of the Nd:YLF crystal induced by electronic and nuclear energy loss were investigated, utilizing complementary characterization techniques (X-ray diffraction, hardness and elastic (Young’s) modulus, micro-Raman, absorption, fluorescence spectra, and I–V characteristic curve). Thus, the annealing effect on the waveguide properties and the surface damage of the samples was discussed. The fabricated waveguide structure shows potential application in highly sensitive optoelectronic sensors. Full article

We present a combination of light-sheet excitation and two-dimensional fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) measurements as a simple and promising technique for three-dimensional temperature mapping. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated with samples fabricated with sodium yttrium fluoride nanoparticles co-doped with rare-earth ytterbium and erbium ions (NaYF₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺) incorporated into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a host material. In addition, we also evaluate the technique using lipid-coated NaYF₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ nanoparticles immersed in agar. The composite materials show upconverted (UC) fluorescence bands when excited by a 980 nm near-infrared laser light-sheet. Using a single CMOS camera and a pair of interferometric optical filters to specifically image the two thermally-coupled bands (at 525 and 550 nm), the two-dimensional FIR and, hence, the temperature map can be readily obtained. The proposed method can take optically sectioned (confocal-like) images with good optical resolution over relatively large samples (up to the millimetric scale) for further 3D temperature reconstruction. Full article

Although 4Ce4YSZ has high corrosion resistance, it faces challenges concerning its sinterability and ionic conductivity. Therefore, we studied destabilization behavior caused by corrosion and oxygen vacancy ordering according to ZnO doping. Powders of (4Ce4YSZ)_1−x(ZnO)_x (x = 0.5, 1, 2, 4 mol%) were synthesized using the sol-gel method. With the addition of ZnO, the cubic phase increased, and secondary phases were not observed. The (111) peak showed a higher angle shift in ZnO-doped 4Ce4YSZ compared to 4Ce4YSZ, and TEM-SAED revealed a reduction in the spacing of the (011)t plane, suggesting lattice contraction due to the substitution of the smaller Zn²⁺ (60 Å) for Zr⁴⁺ (84 Å) in the lattice. The local atomic structure analysis was conducted using EXAFS to investigate the oxygen vacancy ordering behavior. Zr K-edge Fourier transform data revealed a decrease in the Zr-O1 peak intensity with an increasing amount of ZnO doping, indicating an increase in oxygen vacancies. The Zr-O1 peak position shifted to the right, leading to an increase in the Zr-O1 interatomic distance. In the Y K-edge Fourier transform data, the Y-O1 peak intensity did not decrease, and there was little variation in the Y-O1 interatomic distance. These results suggest that the oxygen vacancies formed due to ZnO doping are located in the neighboring oxygen shell of Zn, rather than in the neighboring oxygen shells of Y and Zr. Impedance measurements were conducted to measure the conductivity, and as the amount of ZnO doping increased, the total conductivity increased, while the activation energy decreased. The increase in oxygen vacancies by ZnO doping contributed to the enhancement of conductivity, and it is considered that these created oxygen vacancies did not interact with Zn²⁺ and did not form defect associations. Fluoride-based molten salts were introduced to the specimens to assess the corrosion behavior in a molten salt environment. Yttrium depletion layers (YDLs) were formed on the surfaces of all specimens due to the leaching of yttrium. However, Ce remained relatively stable at the interface according to EDS line scans, suggesting a reduction in the phase transformation (cubic, tetragonal to monoclinic) typically associated with yttrium leaching in YSZ. Full article

The study is devoted to investigating the efficiency dependence of radiation-assisted ceramic synthesis based on metal oxides and fluorides on initial powder particle sizes. The synthesis was performed for 30 series of ceramic samples, including MgO, Al₂O₃, ZnO, ZrO₂, MgF₂, and complex compositions: cerium-activated yttrium-aluminum garnet (Y₃Al₅O₁₂), spinel AlMgO₄, and tungstate MgWO₄. The synthesis efficiency was evaluated on the mixture weight magnitude losses, morphology, and relative weight of the obtained ceramic samples. Based on the analysis of the synthesis results and measuring the particle distribution spectra of the initial materials, the criteria for selecting the initial materials were established, and possible explanations for the correlation between synthesis efficiency and the initial materials morphology were proposed. Full article

The two elements, yttrium and holmium, form a geochemical twin pair as their cations possess equivalent ratios of charge to radius. However, despite their equal electrostatics, a subtle difference in their fluoride or chloride affinity is known within solutions. In this work, we investigated whether this affinity gap is also present within the solid phase and how it depends on the surface configuration. We modeled adsorptions onto β-YF₃ (waimirite) and isostructural β-HoF₃ by periodic density functional theory. To draw conclusions on the affinity toward fluoride and chloride vs. water, adsorbates of HF, HCl, or H₂O onto any of the four highly abundant surfaces of (010), (100), (011), and (101) were studied. Among others, the conformational landscape was explored by 200 ps of ab initio molecular dynamics. For stoichiometric surfaces of both MF₃, we indeed found stronger adsorptions for HF than HCl. All $\left(hkl\right)·$H₂O showed slightly stronger adsorption energies for HoF₃, while for HF and HCl, the metal preferences varied by the surface. While (100) showed the strongest preference for HoF₃, (101) preferred YF₃ by the same magnitude. Full article

(1) Lasers have been used for the treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity and bacterial reductions in periodontology. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) and Erbium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Er:YAG) lasers with chlorhexidine (CHX), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), or sodium fluoride (NaF) on the viability of oral bacteria associated with root caries. (2) Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis, and Enterococcus faecalis were grown in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth, diluted to an OD660 of 0.5, and treated with antiseptics with or without simultaneous irradiation with the Er:YAG and CO₂ lasers for 30 s repeated three times. The treatment groups consisted of 1: no treatment, 2: 0.5% H₂O₂ alone, 3: 0.5% NaOCl alone, 4: 0.12% CHX alone, 5: 2% NaF alone, 6: laser alone, 7: laser with 0.5% H₂O₂, 8: laser with 0.5% NaOCl, 9: laser with 0.12% CHX, and 10: laser with 2% NaF for both lasers. The microbial viability was determined through plating and viable colonies were counted, converted into CFU/mL, and transformed into log form. The statistical analysis was performed using a two-tailed paired t-test. (3) The use of CO₂ and Er:YAG lasers alone failed to show statistically significant antibacterial activity against any of the bacteria. The only effective monotreatment was CHX for S. mutans. The combined treatment of 0.5% NaOCl with Er:YAG produced the greatest reduction in overall viability. (4) The combination of the Er:YAG laser with 0.5% NaOCl resulted in the largest reduction in bacterial survival when compared to monotherapies with antimicrobial solutions or lasers. Full article

In this study, an optical thermometer based on regenerated cellulose fibers modified with YF₃: 20% Yb³⁺, 2% Er³⁺ nanoparticles was developed. The presented sensor was fabricated by introducing YF₃ nanoparticles into cellulose fibers during their formation by the so-called Lyocell process using N-methylmorpholine N-oxide as a direct solvent of cellulose. Under near-infrared excitation, the applied nanoparticles exhibited thermosensitive upconversion emission, which originated from the thermally coupled levels of Er³⁺ ions. The combination of cellulose fibers with upconversion nanoparticles resulted in a flexible thermometer that is resistant to environmental and electromagnetic interferences and allows precise and repeatable temperature measurements in the range of 298–362 K. The obtained fibers were used to produce a fabric that was successfully applied to determine human skin temperature, demonstrating its application potential in the field of wearable health monitoring devices and providing a promising alternative to thermometers based on conductive materials that are sensitive to electromagnetic fields. Full article

At present, magnesium master alloys with such rare earth metals (REM) as yttrium are used in the production of alloys of magnesium and aluminum. These alloys especially the system Mg-6Zn-1Y-0,5Zr are commonly used in the aircraft and automotive industries. The article is devoted to the exploration of the synthesis process features for ternary magnesium master alloys with yttrium and zinc. The authors used X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and X-ray spectral analysis (XRD). Optical microscopy was used to conduct microstructural studies. The thermal effects that occur during metallothermic reactions of yttrium reduction from the YF₃-NaCl-KCl-CaCl₂ salt mixture with a melt of magnesium and zinc were investigated, and the temperatures of these effects were determined. It has been confirmed that the metallothermic reaction of yttrium reduction proceeds from the precursors of the composition: Na_1.5Y_2.5F₉, NaYF₄, Na₅Y₉F₃₂, and KY₇F₂₂, and starts at a temperature of 471 °C. The results of experimental studies of the process of metallothermic reduction of yttrium from the salt mixture YF₃-NaCl-KCl-CaCl₂ are presented in detail. These experiments were carried out in a pit furnace at temperatures ranging from 650 to 700 °C, and it was found that, at a synthesis temperature of 700 °C, the yttrium yield is up to 99.1–99.8%. The paper establishes rational technological regimes for the synthesis (temperature 700 °C, exposure for 25 min, the ratio of chlorides to yttrium fluoride 6:1, periodic stirring of the molten metal) at which the yttrium yield reaches up to 99.8%. The structure of the master alloy samples obtained during the experiments was studied. That structure can be distinguished by a uniform distribution of ternary intermetallic compounds (Mg₃YZn₆) in the bulk of the double magnesium–zinc eutectic. Studies have been carried out on testing the obtained ternary master alloy as an alloying material in the production of alloys of the Mg-6Zn-1Y-0.5Zr system, while the digestibility of yttrium ranged from 91 to 95%. Full article

Nowadays, cancer poses a significant hazard to humans. Limitations in early diagnosis techniques not only result in a waste of healthcare resources but can even lead to delays in diagnosis and treatment, consequently reducing cure rates. Therefore, it is crucial to develop an imaging probe that can provide diagnostic information precisely and rapidly. Here, we used a simple hydrothermal method to design a multimodal imaging probe based on the excellent properties of rareearth ions. Calcium fluoride co-doped with yttrium, gadolinium, and neodymium (CaF₂:Y,Gd,Nd) nanoparticles (NPs) is highly crystalline, homogeneous in morphology, and displays a high biosafety profile. In addition, in vitro and ex vivo experiments explored the multimodal imaging capability of CaF₂:Y,Gd,Nd and demonstrated the efficient performance of CaF₂:Y,Gd,Nd during NIR-II fluorescence/ photoacoustic/magnetic resonance imaging. Collectively, our novel diagnosis nanoparticle will generate new ideas for the development of multifunctional nanoplatforms for disease diagnosis and treatment.
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