Identification and development of nanoscintillators for biotechnology applications

The purpose of this work is to investigate the radioluminescence emission properties in the range 300-400 nm of 15 nanoscintillators for potential application in radiation-triggered photodynamic therapy, and compare to those reported for single crystals with same composition. Garnet structures, silicates and an oxide activated with Pr3+ or Ce3+ were prepared by combustion synthesis and subsequently annealed at 1200 °C. The (Y1−xPrx)3Al5O12 (x=0.0075, 0.01, 0.0125, 0.015, 0.0175) compositions have the highest luminosity, showing concentration behavior for x>0.01. The average particle size of (Y0.99Pr0.01)3Al5O12 is 80 nm, which was obtained by post-annealing high power ultrasonic processing. These results demonstrate that (Y1−xPrx)3Al5O12 is an excellent candidate for nanoscintillators-based biomedical applications. Comparisons to single crystal data indicate a general trend cannot be established between the radioluminescence emission intensity of nanoscintillators and single crystals with the same composition.