Sintesi, caratterizzazione strutturale e morfologica e indagine spettroscopica di nanoparticelle di gadolinio ossifluoruro e fluoruro attivate con ioni lantanidi luminescenti

Fluoride based materials are presently important and interesting luminescent compounds. In this research project we have investigated gadolinium oxyfluorides and fluoride nanocrystalline materials doped with luminescent trivalent lanthanide ions, that are interesting materials which could be employed for many technological applications also in medicine. The obtained lanthanide doped gadolinium oxyfluoride nanocrystals have rhombohedral or tetragonal phase, prepared by a coprecipitation technique in aqueous solution. The nanoparticle size range is 20-50 nm. The gadolinium oxyfluoride nanocrystalline powders show strong emission spectra. Lanthanide doped gadolinium fluoride nanoparticles were obtained by solvothermal synthesis, capped with oleic acid and polyethylene glycol (PEG), dispersible in chloroform and water, respectively. The Eu3+ and Tb3+ doped GdF3 nanoparticles have an efficient Stokes emission in solution. PEG capped gadolinium fluoride with an orthorhombic phase, was obtained by hydrothermal synthesis and it is a candidate for multimodal imaging in biological fluids. In fact, it shows a strong upconversion emission in water dispersion and it shows a magnetic relaxivity comparable to a conventional gadolinium based agent contrast for magnetic resonance.