Facile Fabrication of Transparent and Upconversion Photoluminescent Nanofiber Mats with Tunable Optical Properties

Abstract

A facile fabrication strategy of transparent and upconversion photoluminescent nylon 6 (PA6) nanofiber mats was developed based on PA6 nanofiber mats, carboxylic acid-functionalized upconversion nanoparticles (UCNP-COOH), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) solution. UCNP-COOH were prepared by a solvothermal method, followed by the ligand exchange process. The electrospinning method and the spin-coating process were employed to combine PA6 nanofiber mats with UCNP-COOH and PMMA to introduce upconversion photoluminescent properties and transparency into the nanocomposite mats, respectively. The prepared UCNP-COOH/PA6/PMMA nanofiber mats are transparent and exhibit green emission, which are similar to UCNP-COOH when they were excited under 980 nm laser. The upconversion luminescent intensity of the functional nanofiber mats can be tailored by adjusting the weight fraction of UCNP-COOH as fillers. This facile strategy can be readily used to other types of intriguing nanocomposites for diverse applications.

Robust Strategy to Improve the Compatibility between Incorporated Upconversion Nanoparticles and the Bulk Transparent Polymer Matrix

“…26 Thus, the key points for preparing transparent polymer nanocomposites are the fabrication of well-dispersed nanoparticles and increasing the interface compatibility among the incorporated nanomaterials and the bulk polymer matrix to incorporate functional inorganic nanoparticles into the polymer matrix without agglomeration. 13,14,17 Recently, several methods have been proposed to prevent the agglomeration of functional inorganic nanoparticles among the in situ polymerization process while concerning the surface chemistry modification of incorporated inorganic nanoparticles. 27,28 These approaches involved ligand exchange of the original stabilizing ligands of the NPs to prevent the nanoparticle aggregation when the in situ polymerization process was performed.…”

“…Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted much attention owing to the properties of turning long wavelength near-infrared light to short wavelength light, such as ultraviolet (UV) light and visible light. − Recently, UCNPs have been incorporated into transparent bulk polymers to fabricate bulk polymer nanocomposites with special upconversion fluorescence and transparent properties, which have wide applications in the 3D display, , solar cells, etc. − UCNPs have usually been combined with various transparent polymer matrices [such as polystyrene (PS), polyamides (PA), − polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), , polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), , etc.] to prepare bulk polymer nanocomposites due to the low cost and easy processing properties of these polymers .…”

Natural and Synthetic Polymer Scaffolds Comprising Upconversion Nanoparticles as a Bioimaging Platform for Tissue Engineering

“…Another type of core/shell UCNPs co-doped with Yb 3+ /Tm 3+ were used to induce biomacromolecules release from hydrogels due to conversion of NIR photons into UV and triggering gel–sol transition [ 51 ]. Various UCNPs can also be incorporated into electrospun fibrous polymer matrices for broad photonic applications [ 52 , 53 ].…”

Electrospun Upconverting Nanofibrous Hybrids with Smart NIR-Light-Controlled Drug Release for Wound Dressing

“…As compared to other luminescent nanoparticles and organic dyes, UCNPs are resistant to photobleaching and photoblinking. , These features have resulted in their use in a number of key topics: energy, environment, and health. − Given their unique optical properties, a great deal of research has focused on their implementation in biology and nanomedicine. , Many reports have also described the incorporation of UCNPs into electrospun fibers. However, most of them have explored their emission properties for the detection of biomolecules and imaging rather than for drug delivery. − Also, these systems have utilized poly­(vinylpyrrolidone), poly­(methyl methacrylate), and silica host fibers, but, to the best of our knowledge, none report UCNPs in PVA for drug delivery.…”