Microwave-assisted one-pot synthesis of water-soluble rare-earth doped fluoride luminescent nanoparticles with tunable colors

Polyethyleneimine (PEI) functionalized multicolor luminescent LaF3 nanoparticles were synthesized via a novel microwave-assisted method, which can achieve fast and uniform heating under eco-friendly and energy efficient conditions. The as-prepared nanoparticles possess a pure hexagonal structure with an average size of about 12 nm. When doped with different ions (Tb3+ and Eu3+), the morphology and structure of the nanoparticles were not changed, whereas the optical properties varied with doped ions and their molar ratio, and as a result emission of four different colors (green, yellow, orange and red) were achieved by simply switching the types of doping ions (Eu3+ versus Tb3 + ) and the molar ratio of the two doping ions.

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► A novel one-pot microwave-assisted synthesis of LaF3 nanoparticles was reported.
► The nanoparticles were PEI coated and amino functionalized during synthesis.
► Morphology, structure and luminescent properties were investigated.
► Four colors were achieved by switching dopant ions and their molar ratio.