Synthesis and Functionalization of Monodisperse Near-ultraviolet and Visible Excitable Multifunctional Eu3+, Bi3+:REVO4 Nanophosphors for Bioimaging and Biosensing Applications

Near-ultraviolet and visible excitable Eu- and Bi-doped NPs based on rare earth vanadates (REVO4, RE = Y, Gd) have been synthesized by a facile route from appropriate RE precursors, europium and bismuth nitrate, and sodium orthovanadate, by homogeneous precipitation in an ethylene glycol/water mixture at 120 °C. The NPs can be functionalized either by a one-pot synthesis with polyacrylic acid (PAA) or by a Layer-by-Layer approach with poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and PAA. In the first case, the particle size can also be tuned by adjusting the amount of PAA. The Eu- Bi-doped REVO4 based nanophosphors show the typical red luminescence of Eu(III), which can be excited through an energy transfer process from the vanadate anions, resulting in a much higher luminescence intensity in comparison to the direct excitation of the europium cations. The incorporation of Bi into the REVO4 structure shifts the original absorption band of the vanadate anions towards longer wavelengths, giving rise to nanophosphors with an excitation maximum at 342 nm, which can also be excited in the visible range. The suitability of such nanophosphors for bioimaging and biosensing applications, as well as their colloidal stability in different buffer media of biological interest, their cytotoxicity, their degradability at low pH, and their uptake by HeLa cells have been evaluated. Their suitability for bioimaging and biosensing applications is also demonstrated.European Union 267226Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MAT2014-54852-

Rare earth based nanostructured materials: Synthesis, functionalization, properties and bioimaging and biosensing applications

Rare earth based nanostructures constitute a type of functional materials widely used and studied in the recent literature. The purpose of this review is to provide a general and comprehensive overview of the current state of the art, with special focus on the commonly employed synthesis methods and functionalization strategies of rare earth based nanoparticles and on their different bioimaging and biosensing applications. The luminescent (including downconversion, upconversion and permanent luminescence) and magnetic properties of rare earth based nanoparticles, as well as their ability to absorb X-rays, will also be explained and connected with their luminescent, magnetic resonance and X-ray computed tomography bioimaging applications, respectively. This review is not only restricted to nanoparticles, and recent advances reported for in other nanostructures containing rare earths, such as metal organic frameworks and lanthanide complexes conjugated with biological structures, will also be commented on.European Union 267226Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MAT2014-54852-

Autoaprendizaje experimental de contenidos científico-técnicos avanzados a partir de material didáctico elemental

Se describe la programación de actividades de autoaprendizaje experimental sobre contenidos cientí- fico-técnicos avanzados, a partir de un material didáctico elemental. Dichas actividades se han referido a la asignatura Química del Estado Sólido, correspondiente a la titulación Ingeniería de Materiales, de segundo ciclo, la cual se imparte por primera vez en la Universidad de Sevilla durante el curso 2005-06. La programación se ha aplicado por sus autores, miembros del Grupo de Investigación FQM 212 del PAI, de carácter multidisciplinar, en un contexto caracterizado por la diversidad de los estudios realizados previamente por los alumnos. Ello ha permitido llevar a cabo su evaluación y presentar los resultados obtenidos.The programmed activities for the experimental selflearnig of advanced scientific and technological contents are proposed. These activities fit into the subject Solid State Chemistry of the Materials Engineering (University of Seville) which has started the academic year 2005-06. The proposed activities have already been tested by the authors, which belong to the Andaluzian Research Group FQM 212, in a multidisciplinary group of students. This experimental trial has allowed the evaluation of the results

Sacrificial Ligand Route to Hybrid Polythiophene-silver Nanoparticles for Sinter-free Conductive Inks

We report the synthesis of AgNP@PEDOT:PSS hybrid conductive particles with silver cores and polythiophene shells that can be used to formulate sinter-free inks for printing electronics. First, Ag nanocrystals capped with the weakly bound ligand aminohexanoic acid (ϵ-Ahx) are prepared. The ligand shell is exchanged by reacting the dispersion with the polymer ionomer mixture poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). The particles are characterized by electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, Z potential, and Raman spectroscopy, confirming the replacement of the ligands on the metal particle surface. The resulting dispersion is colloidally stable as confirmed by DLS. Inks with a solid content of the hybrid particles of 300 mg mL−1 were prepared and deposited on different substrates. The new particles are components for hybrid inks that become electrically conductive without any chemical or thermal post-deposition treatment. We show that silver-based hybrid inks can be deposited on different substrates and possess an average conductivity after 24 h of drying at room temperature of 1.726 × 106 S m−1 ± 0.326 × 106 S m−1, only one order of magnitude lower than elemental silver and within the same order of magnitude as their gold ink counterpart

Rare earth based nanostructured materials: synthesis, functionalization, properties and bioimaging and biosensing applications

Rare earth based nanostructures constitute a type of functional materials widely used and studied in the recent literature. The purpose of this review is to provide a general and comprehensive overview of the current state of the art, with special focus on the commonly employed synthesis methods and functionalization strategies of rare earth based nanoparticles and on their different bioimaging and biosensing applications. The luminescent (including downconversion, upconversion and permanent luminescence) and magnetic properties of rare earth based nanoparticles, as well as their ability to absorb X-rays, will also be explained and connected with their luminescent, magnetic resonance and X-ray computed tomography bioimaging applications, respectively. This review is not only restricted to nanoparticles, and recent advances reported for in other nanostructures containing rare earths, such as metal organic frameworks and lanthanide complexes conjugated with biological structures, will also be commented on.European Union 267226Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MAT2014-54852-

Revista de enseñanza universitaria

Resumen tomado de la publicaciónDescribe la programación de actividades de autoaprendizaje experimental sobre contenidos científicos avanzados, a partir de un material didáctico elemental. Dichas actividades se han referido a la asignatura Química del Estado Sólido, correspondiente a la titulación Ingeniería de Materiales, de segundo ciclo, la cual se imparte por primera vez en la Universidad de Sevilla durante el curso 2005-06. La programación se ha aplicado por sus autores, miembros del Grupo de Investigación FQM 212 del PAI, de carácter multidisciplinar, en un contexto caracterizado por la diversidad de los estudios realizados previamente por los alumnos. Ello ha permitido llevar a cabo su evaluación y presentar los resultados obtenidos.AndalucíaUniversidad de León. Facultad de Educación. Servicio de Biblioteca; Campus de Vegazana, s. n.; 24071 León; Tel. +34987291146; Fax +34987291145; [email protected]; [email protected]