High-performance disease diagnosis fluorescent probe based on new type structure YbF3: Er3+@SiO2@GQDs

Abstract

Due to the difference of temperature and Iron (Fe3+) contents between cancer cells and normal cells, a simple disease diagnosis fluorescent probe integrated with sensitive thermometer and accurate ions detector is constructed based on YbF3: 3%Er3+@SiO2@GQDs (YbSG) core–shell structure. The thermal sensing behaviors of YbF3: Er3+ are investigated by fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) technology using 4S3/2 and 4F9/2 levels of Er3+ ions irradiated by 980 nm laser. High Yb3+ doped concentrations induce strong energy back transfer (EBT) process between Er3+ and Yb3+, which not only tunes light emission but also effects temperature sensing property by population re-distribution in 4S3/2 and 4F9/2 levels of Er3+ ions. Additionally, fluorescence quenching of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) can reflect Fe3+ ions contents in the range of 0–100 μM excited by 365 nm. The results display that Er3+ doped YbF3 combined with GQDs by introducing an intermediate medium silica layer has a potential application prospect for ultra-sensitive temperature measuring and detection of Fe3+ ions in the field of bio-medicine.