An Emerging Toolkit of Ho 3+ Sensitized Lanthanide Nanocrystals with NIR-II Excitation and Emission for in Vivo Bioimaging

Optical imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) holds great promise for biomedical detection due to reduced tissue scattering and autofluorescence. However, the rational design of NIR-II probes with superior excitation wavelengths to balance the effects of tissue scattering and water absorption remains a great challenge. To address this issue, here we developed a series of Ho3+-sensitized lanthanide (Ln) nanocrystals (NaYF4: Ho, Ln@NaYF4) excited at 1143 nm, featuring tunable emissions ranging from 1000 to 2200 nm for in vivo bioimaging. Precise core–shell engineering (β-NaYF4: Ho@NaYF4: Ln@NaYF4 and β-NaYF4: Ho/Yb@NaYbF4@NaYbF4: Ln@NaYF4) further endows the Ho3+-sensitized system…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 22474026, 22088101, 22104017
• SM
  Shanghai Municipal Education Commission

  Award: 2023ZKZD08
• SA
  Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality

  Awards: 24QA2706400, 20490710600, 22JC1400400, 21142201000
• NK
  National Key Research and Development Program of China

  Award: 2023YFB3507100