Electronic Supplementary Material (ESI) for CrystEngComm.

This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2017

Supplementary Information

Microwave-assisted synthesis of NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ upconversion particles with

tailored morphology and phase for the design of UV/NIR-active
NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+@TiO2 core@shell photocatalysts

Sajjad Ullaha,b, Chanchal Hazraa, Elias Paiva Ferreira Netoc, Tárcio de Castro Silvaa,
Ubirajara Pereira Rodrigues-Filhoc, Sidney Jose Lima Ribeiroa*
aInstituto de Química de Ararquara, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), 14800-060, Araraquara, SP Brazil
bInstitute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, 25120, Peshawar, KP Pakistan
cInstituto de Química de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, 13560-970, São Carlos, SP Brazil

30 10 min 16
15 min
25
12
20 102 ±12 nm
Percentage

91±12 nm
Percentage

15
8
10
4
5

0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Size (nm) Size (nm)

16
20 min

12
Percentage

103 ±12 nm

0
20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Size (nm)

Figure S1: Particle size distribution of UCPs prepared using microwave treatment time of
less than 30 minutes. The sizes are denoted as average size±SD where SD shows the width
of size distribution
 

as prepared
NaYF4
NaYF4 


Intensity (a.u

 
 
6000C_2h

  

10 20 30 40 50 60 70
2

Figure S2: XRD pattern of the NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ sample prepared using 15 min MW
irradiation (upper curve) and after calcination at 600˚C for 2h (lower curve).

Figure S3: SEM images of the NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ sample prepared using 15 min MW
irradiation time before calcination (left) and after calcination at 600˚C for 2h (right).
 Figure S4: EDX spectrum of NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ UCPs.

Photoluminescent Properties of UCPs

4.0
(a) (b)
2.5
3.5

3.0
PL Instensity (cps) x 105

2.0
PL Instensity (cps) x 106

2.5
1.5
2.0

1.0 1.5

1.0
0.5
0.5

0.0 0.0
300 400 500 600 700 800 300 400 500 600 700 800
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm)

Figure S5: UC PL spectra of NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ UCPs (a) after the co-precipitation step and
(b) after both co-precipitation and MW-assisted hydrothermal step under otherwise
identical experimental conditions. Not only the peaks become clearly defined but the PL
intensity also increases after MW-assisted hydrothermal treatment.
 Excitation: 980 nm
Power= 400 mW
2.0 mmol EDTA
no EDTA

relative intensity (a.u)

300 400 500 600 700 800

Wavelength (nm)

Figure S6: UC spectra of NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ UCPs prepared using no EDTA (see Fig 2a) and 2
mmol EDTA (see Fig. 2d) under otherwise identical experimental conditions.

 



Intensity (au)

  
* * 
* 
*   * *
*

10 20 30 40 50 60
2

Figure S7: X-ray diffractogram of the UCPs (see Fig. 2a in main text) prepared without any
EDTA in the reaction mixture. In addition to diffraction peaks characteristics of the cubic
phase, α-NaYF4, (PDF no. 6-342) and hexagonal phase, β-NaYF4, (PDF no. 16-334), the
diffractorgram also shows some additional diffraction peaks (marked with asterisk (*)
ascribed to phase impurities.
 120°C
150°C
190°C
PL intesnity (a.u)

300 400 500 600 700 800

Wavelength (nm)

Figure S8: PL UC spectra of NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ UCPs obtained by co-precipitation/MW-

assisted hydrothermal treatment at different temperatures showing the effect of
hydrothermal temperature on the PL intensity
 As prepared UCPs
after calciantion at 400°C
for 90 min
PL Intensity (a.u)

300 400 500 600 700 800

Wavelength (nm)

Figure S9: PL UC spectra of NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ UCPs obtained by co-precipitation/MW-

assisted hydrothermal treatment before and after calcination at 400°C for 90 min in air.
The slight increase in PL intensity after calcination may be attributed to a small increase in
crystallinity and crystallite size, decrease of crystal defects and decomposition of the organic
molecules on the surface of the particles.1,2
Figure S10: SEM image of UCPs@TiO2 sample prepared in the absence of PVP. Free core-
less TiO2 particles are also formed in addition to the core@shell UCPs@TiO2 particles.

SEM/TEM-EDX analysis

Fig. S11: (a) SEM image (b) EDX spectrum and (c-h) elemental mapping of Na, Y, F, Yb, Ti and O of
UCPs@TiO2 sample.
Fig. S11a and S11b show the SEM image and EDX spectrum of an isolated TiO2-coated
NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ microrod, respectively. The presence of TiO2 in the sample is confirmed
by the presence of clear emission peaks of Ti at 4.5 keV (Ti Kα) and 4.9 keV (Ti Kβ) (Fig.
S11b). A clear picture of TiO2 coating on the microrod is manifested in the elemental
mapping for Na, Y, F, Yb, Ti and O (Figs. S11c-h). The Ti and O distribution resembles
closely indicating that the layered coating on the surface of UCPs consists of TiO2.

Similarly, the EDX line scan performed across the diameter of the UCPs@TiO2 particle
shows prominent Ti signal at distances corresponding to the borders of the UCPs@TiO2
particle while signals for Na, Y and F are more prominent in the middle part of the particles
and these signals closely resemble/overlap each other (Fig. S12). The EDX line scan thus
further confirms the formation of a core@shell structure in the UCPs@TiO2 particles

position of
line-scane Na
Y
F
Ti
Counts

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

position (µm)

Figure S12: EDX line scan across the border of UCPs@TiO2 particle (shown as inset). The
Na, Y, and F signals closely resembles in form and position while the Ti signal is stronger at
the border of the particles.
 (a) (b)
1.0
1.0

Normalized CV peak area (400-700 nm)

0 min
0.8 10 min
20 min 0.8
30 min No photocatalyst
40 min
Absorbance (au)

0.6 UCPs
50 min 0.6 UCPs@TiO2
60 min
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0 0.0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Wavelength (nm) UV irradiation time (min)

Figure S13: (a) Visible absorption spectra of CV dye solution and (b) decrease in area of CV
peak (400-700 nm) as function of UV irradiation time (min) in the presence of UCPs and
UCPs@TiO2 photocatalysts. The direct photolysis in the absence of any photocatalyst is also
shown for comparison.

1.0
peak area (400-700 nm)

0.8
0.5

0.6
0h
0.4 2h
4h 0.4
Absorbance (a.u)

6h
0.3 8h
12h 0.2
14h 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Time (h)
0.2

0.1

0.0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700
Wavelength (nm)

Figure S14: (a) Change in the UV-visible spectra of CV dye solution in the presence of
UCPs@TiO2 photocatalysts under NIR (980 nm) irradiation. The inset shows the decrease
in area of CV peak (400-700 nm) as function of UV irradiation time (h).
References:

1 R. H. Krishna, B. M. Nagabhushana, H. Nagabhushana, N. S. Murthy, S. C. Sharma, C.

Shivakumara and R. P. S. Chakradhar, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2013, 117, 1915–1924.

2 D. Yang, D. Chen, H. He, Q. Pan, Q. Xiao and J. Qiu, Sci. Rep., 2016, 6, 29871.