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Nano Research 2023, 16(1): 1552-1557 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4750-3
Research Article | Issue | Published: 05 August 2022

Real-time evolution of up-conversion nanocrystals from tailored metastable intermediates

Show Author's Information Peng Zhang1,2,  Xue Yu3( ),  Ping Xia3,  Zhenzhen Cui1,  Jianhong Yi1,  Caiju Li1,  Peng Song1,  Feng Zhao3,  Ting Wang4( ),  Jianbei Qiu1,  Xuhui Xu1( )
Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials of Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
Yunnan AFPN Technology Company Limited, Kunming 650093, China
School of Mechanical Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Institute for Advanced Materials Deformation and Damage from Multi-Scale, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, China
College of Materials and Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Keywords:
up-conversion nanocrystals, metastable intermediates, real-time evolution, in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Topics:
Nanocrystals
Cite this article:
Zhang P, Yu X, Xia P, et al. Real-time evolution of up-conversion nanocrystals from tailored metastable intermediates. Nano Research, 2023, 16(1): 1552-1557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4750-3
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

In-situ observation of the growth and decomposition processes is significantly important for guiding the fabrication of up-conversion nanocrystals (UCNCs) with high performance. However, the high crystallization energy and rapid nucleation rate of the corresponding crystals make real-time observation still a huge challenge. Herein, the in-situ nucleation-growth-degradation processes of the UCNCs are investigated by employing tailored metastable intermediates, which possess a slowing-down nucleation rate under electron beam irradiation. The non-classical nucleation processes of the UCNCs, containing the coalescence of clusters and the subsequent crystallization, are demonstrated. Moreover, the Ostwald ripening and oriented attachment processes, which determine the particle size and morphology, are unambiguously recorded. Furthermore, the degrading process of the UCNCs is observed to be triggered by surface defects. Our work provides an insight into the real-time evolution dynamics of the UCNCs, which further sheds light on the fabrication of nano-sized up-conversion phosphors.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Real-time evolution of up-conversion nanocrystals from tailored metastable intermediates

Show Author's information Peng Zhang1,2, Xue Yu3( ), Ping Xia3, Zhenzhen Cui1, Jianhong Yi1, Caiju Li1, Peng Song1, Feng Zhao3, Ting Wang4( ), Jianbei Qiu1, Xuhui Xu1( )
Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials of Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
Yunnan AFPN Technology Company Limited, Kunming 650093, China
School of Mechanical Engineering, Institute for Advanced Study, Institute for Advanced Materials Deformation and Damage from Multi-Scale, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, China
College of Materials and Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China

Abstract

In-situ observation of the growth and decomposition processes is significantly important for guiding the fabrication of up-conversion nanocrystals (UCNCs) with high performance. However, the high crystallization energy and rapid nucleation rate of the corresponding crystals make real-time observation still a huge challenge. Herein, the in-situ nucleation-growth-degradation processes of the UCNCs are investigated by employing tailored metastable intermediates, which possess a slowing-down nucleation rate under electron beam irradiation. The non-classical nucleation processes of the UCNCs, containing the coalescence of clusters and the subsequent crystallization, are demonstrated. Moreover, the Ostwald ripening and oriented attachment processes, which determine the particle size and morphology, are unambiguously recorded. Furthermore, the degrading process of the UCNCs is observed to be triggered by surface defects. Our work provides an insight into the real-time evolution dynamics of the UCNCs, which further sheds light on the fabrication of nano-sized up-conversion phosphors.

Keywords: up-conversion nanocrystals, metastable intermediates, real-time evolution, in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM)

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 24 April 2022
Revised: 18 June 2022
Accepted: 07 July 2022
Published: 05 August 2022
Issue date: January 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 61965012), Science and Technology Major Project of Yunnan Province (No. 202202AG050004), Technological Innovation Fund Project of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of Yunnan Province (No. 202104AP080068), Yunnan Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 202001AS070008 and 202101AT070126), Yunnan Ten Thousand Talents Plan Young & Elite Talents Project (No. YNWR-QNBJ-2018-295), the Excellent Youth Project of Yunnan Province Applied Basic Research Project (No. 2019FI001), Rare and Precious Metal Materials Genome Engineering Project of Yunnan Province (No. 202002AB080001), and Sichuan Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 2022YFH0108 and 2022JDJQ0030).

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