Rare Earth Luminescent Nanomaterials and Their Applications

Rare earth luminescent nanomaterials have become popular in the last two decades. These materials exhibit large Stokes shift, sharp emission spectrum, long life, high stability, low toxicity, and less photobleaching, making them applicable in many fields including photonics, energy and chemical engineering. This chapter introduces the two types of rare earth luminescent nanomaterials: Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and downconversion nanoparticles (DCNPs). The overview will discuss the development, mechanism, composition, synthesis, characterization, UC emission tuning, and application of UCNPs. Meanwhile, representative examples and applications are also provided for DCNPs.