Surface-curvature-amplified conformational disorder in alkyl capping ligands has been observed previously when the nanoparticle radii approach the ligand length. Herein, sum frequency generation studies on oleic-acid-capped nanoplates show that even on faceted surfaces with dimensions tens of times greater than the ligand length a significant proportion of gauche defects exist in the capping layer. The molecular disorder on the nanosized facets is attributed to a facet-edge effect, which is diminished when increasing the facet size or assembling the nanofacets side to side. This feature is further explored to probe the self-assembly dynamics of nanoplates.

Here we propose a thermoresponsive polymer PNIPAM modulated fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) system to enhance the temperature sensitivity of upconversion nanophosphors (UCNPs). By utilizing red/near-infrared dual emitting NaLuF4:Mn(2+),Ln(3+) (Ln(3+) = Yb(3+), Er(3+), Tm(3+)) UCNPs as the energy donor and Au nanoparticles as the acceptor, the temperature resolution of the UCNPs is significantly increased from 3.1 °C to 0.9 °C in the physiological temperature range. Conjugating the UCNPs and acceptors into discrete nanocomposites in our samples facilitates reversible regulation of the emission intensity of UCNPs, which thus would extend their application range in biosensing, especially for probing the dynamic changes of local micro-environments in biological tissues. As there are a broad variety of stimuli to which smart polymers can reversibly respond, our experiments are also extendable to various external conditions in local micro-environments, such as pH values, metal ions, glucose, and tissue-specific enzymes.

Efficient NIR luminescence and high r2 value are simultaneously achieved for NaHoF4:Nd3+ nanoplates, which are successfully applied for NIR luminescence and MR imaging in vivo.