Production of highly stable upconverting nanoparticles modified with xanthan gum and their long-term studies

Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) forming stable water colloids are essential for biology and medicine, where they can be applied for bioimaging, disease detection, and treatment. The stability of UCNPs' mor-phology in the form of their water colloids is as crucial as their spectroscopic properties. An appropriate surface modification is usually required to improve the stability of UCNPs in water. This article presents the results of long-term studies under Sr0.54Lu0.36F2.5:Yb3+, Tm3+ UCNPs modified with xanthan gum (XG) used as a colloid stabilizer. XG changes the surface charge and facilitates further bioconjugation to other mo-lecules. Our studies confirmed that the structural properties of Sr0.54Lu0.36F2.5:Yb3+, Tm3+ UCNPs, their composition, and their luminescence do not change for 28 weeks.(c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) forming stable water colloids are important for biology and medicine. This article presents the results of long-term studies on Sr0.54Lu0.36F2.5:Yb3+, Tm3+ UCNPs modified with xanthan gum as a colloid stabilizer, confirming the stability and luminescence of UCNPs in water.