Inorganic nanoparticles are a fascinating class of materials which promise great potential in numerous fields, including optical (bio)sensing. Many different kinds of such nanoparticles have been widely used for fluorescent sensing and imaging due to the different merits of fluorescent nanoparticles compared to molecular fluorophores.Progress made in the rational design of nanomaterials also allowed the synthesis of hybrid phosphorescent nanoparticles, that finds growing applications in sensing due to the combination of the interesting size-and shape-dependent properties of nanomaterials with a phosphorescence-type emission.In this review, we intend to highlight some of progress made in this active research area and update the database of various phosphorescent nanoparticles-based sensors on the basis of different sensing targets of interest in environmental, industrial and biomedical areas.Following an introduction and a discussion of merits of the synergy between nanomaterials and phosphorescence detection as compared to molecular luminophores the article assesses the kinds and specific features of nanomaterials often used in phosphorescence sensing. Specific examples on the use of phosphorescence nanoparticles in chemical sensing and bioimaging are given next. A final section intends to provide an overview of the prospects of such type of nanomaterials in the design of future devices for analytical chemistry.

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Coupling of asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) to an on-line elemental detection (inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, ICP-MS) has been recently proposed as a powerful diagnostic tool for characterization of the bioconjugation of CdSe/ZnS core-shell Quantum Dots (QDs) to antibodies. Such approach has been used herein to demonstrate that cap exchange of the native hydrophobic shell of core/shell QDs with the bidentate dihydrolipoic acid ligands directly removes completely the eventual side nanoparticulated populations generated during simple one-pot synthesis, which can ruin the subsequent final bioapplication. The critical assessment of the chemical and physical purity of the surface-modified QDs achieved allows to explain the transmission electron microscopy findings obtained for the different nanoparticle surface modification assayed.