Europium-doped Gadolinium Oxide Nanoparticles Research Articles

Europium-doped gadolinium oxide nanoparticles: A potential photoluminescencent probe for highly selective and sensitive detection of Fe3+ and Cr3+ ions

Herein, we report the facile synthesis, characterizations and photoluminescence sensing probe applications of europium (Eu3+)-doped gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) nanoparticles. The Eu3+- doped Gd2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized by a facile and straight forward chemical synthesis followed by the calcination process. Various percent concentrations of Eu3+ ranging from 1 to 5% was used to dope into the Gd2O3 and calcine them for different time to optimize the photoluminescence properties of the synthesized nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by several techniques which confirmed that the 5% Eu3+- doped Gd2O3 nanoparticles exhibited best structural and optical properties. Thus, due to best structural and optical properties, the 5% Eu3+- doped Gd2O3 nanoparticles were used as photoluminescent probe for the detection of Fe3+ and Cr3+ ions. The detailed sensing results revealed that the synthesized nanoparticles are quite selective and sensitive towards Fe3+ and Cr3+ ions with 99.3% quenching efficiency for 10ppm Fe3+ ions and 98.6% quenching efficiency for 40ppm Cr3+ ions respectively. The detection limit for Fe3+ and Cr3+ ions were 1.48ppm and 6.56ppm respectively. The utilization of synthesized nanoparticles in real water samples with percentage recovery of >90% in tap water and distilled water and 87% in sewage water has unlocked numerous opening to use such nanomaterial for real water treatment applications.

Novel multi-functional europium-doped gadolinium oxide nanoparticle aerosols facilitate the study of deposition in the developing rat lung.

Ambient ultrafine particulate matter (UPM), less than 100 nm in size, has been linked to the development and exacerbation of pulmonary diseases. Age differences in susceptibility to UPM may be due to a difference in delivered dose as well as age-dependent differences in lung biology and clearance. In this study, we developed and characterized aerosol exposures to novel metal oxide nanoparticles containing lanthanides to study particle deposition in the developing postnatal rat lung. Neonatal, juvenile and adult rats (1, 3 and 12 weeks old) were nose only exposed to 380 μg m(-3) of ∼30 nm europium doped gadolinium oxide nanoparticles (Gd2O3:Eu(3+)) for 1 h. The deposited dose in the nose, extrapulmonary airways and lungs was determined using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. The dose of deposited particles was significantly greater in the juvenile rats at 2.22 ng per g body weight compared to 1.47 ng per g and 0.097 ng per g for the adult and neonate rats, respectively. Toxicity was investigated in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) by quantifying recovered cell types, and measuring lactate dehydrogenase activity and total protein. The toxicity data suggests that the lanthanide particles were not acutely toxic or inflammatory with no increase in neutrophils or lactate dehydrogenase activity at any age. Juvenile and adult rats had the same mass of deposited NPs per gram of lung tissue, while neonatal rats had significantly less NPs deposited per gram of lung tissue. The current study demonstrates the utility of novel lanthanide-based nanoparticles to study inhaled particle deposition in vivo and has important implications for nanoparticles delivery to the developing lung either as therapies or as a portion of particulate matter air pollution.

TEM–STEM study of europium doped gadolinium oxide nanoparticles synthesized by spray pyrolysis

Scanning-Transmission and Transmission Electron Microscopy techniques (STEM and TEM) have been applied to the characterization of nanostructured gadolinium oxides doped with europium synthesized by spray pyrolysis. The High Angle Annular Dark Field (HAADF) – Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) tools have been used to perform a tomographic study to identify morphological characteristics of nanostructured particles, and to differentiate them according to the heat treatments to which these have been subjected. With these techniques it has been possible to confirm the hollowness and porous nature of samples subjected to low temperature annealing (900°C). Moreover, the beginning of the densification and sintering processes in samples subjected to thermal treatment at higher temperature (1100°C) have been evaluated. Chemical analysis by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and X ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) carried out in STEM mode have allowed to confirm the high uniformity and the expected chemical composition. The high resolution tools either allowed to confirm the presence of a cubic (Ia3 symmetry) and the monoclinic (c2/m symmetry) phases in the nanostructured particles.