Mn 4 þ -activated fluoride compounds, as an alternative to commercial (oxy)nitride phosphors, are emerging as a new class of non-rare-earth red phosphors for high-efficacy warm white LEDs. Currently, it remains a challenge to synthesize these phosphors with high photoluminescence quantum yields through a convenient chemical route. Herein we propose a general but convenient strategy based on efficient cation exchange reaction, which had been originally regarded only effective in synthesizing nano-sized materials before, for the synthesis of Mn 4 þ -activated fluoride microcrystals such as K 2 TiF 6 , K 2 SiF 6 , NaGdF 4 and NaYF 4 . Particularly we achieve a photoluminescence quantum yield as high as 98% for K 2 TiF 6 :Mn 4 þ . By employing it as red phosphor, we fabricate a high-performance white LED with low correlated colour temperature (3,556 K), high-colour-rendering index (R a ¼ 81) and luminous efficacy of 116 lm W À 1 . These findings show great promise of K 2 TiF 6 :Mn 4 þ as a commercial red phosphor in warm white LEDs, and open up new avenues for the exploration of novel non-rare-earth red emitting phosphors.

Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted considerable interest due to their superior physicochemical features, such as large anti-Stokes shifts, low autofluorescence background, low toxicity and high penetration depth, which make them extremely suitable for use as alternatives to conventional downshifting luminescence bioprobes like organic dyes and quantum dots for various biological applications. A fundamental understanding of the photophysics of lanthanide-doped UCNPs is of vital importance for discovering novel optical properties and exploring their new applications. In this review, we focus on the most recent advances in the development of lanthanide-doped UCNPs as potential luminescent nano-bioprobes by means of our customized lanthanide photophysics measurement platforms specially designed for upconversion luminescence, which covers from their fundamental photophysics to bioapplications, including electronic structures (energy levels and local site symmetry of emitters), excited-state dynamics, optical property designing, and their promising applications for in vitro biodetection of tumor markers. Some future prospects and efforts towards this rapidly growing field are also envisioned.