Nanocomposites of graphene oxide and upconversion rare-earth nanocrystals with superior optical limiting performance

Wei Wei, Tingchao He, Xue Teng, Shixin Wu, Lin Ma, Hua Zhang, Jan Ma, Yanhui Yang, Hongyu Chen, Yu Han, Handong Sun, Ling Huang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

79 Scopus citations

Abstract

Upconversion rare-earth nanomaterials (URENs) possess highly efficient near-infrared (NIR), e.g., 980 nm, laser absorption and unique energy upconversion capabilities. On the other hand, graphene and its derivatives, such as graphene oxide (GO), show excellent performance in optical limiting (OL); however, the wavelengths of currently used lasers for OL studies mainly focus on either 532 or 1064 nm. To design new-generation OL materials working at other optical regions, such as the NIR, a novel nanocomposites, GO-URENs, which combines the advantages of both its components, is synthesized by a one-step chemical reaction. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and fluorescence studies prove that the α-phase URENs uniformly attach on the GO surface via covalent chemical bonding, which assures highly efficient energy transfer between URENs and GO, and also accounts for the significantly improved OL performance compared to either GO or URENs. The superior OL effect is also observed in the proof-of-concept thin-film product, suggesting immediate applications in making high-performance laser-protecting products and optoelectronic devices. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2271-2276
Number of pages6
JournalSmall
Volume8
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 20 2012

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Academic Research Fund (Tier 1) from Singapore Ministry of Education (RG 20/09) and the Start-Up Grant (SUG) from Nanyang Technological University. H.Z. is grateful for the support from MOE under AcRF Tier 2 (ARC 10/10, No. MOE2010-T2-1-060), Singapore National Research Foundation under the CREATE program: Nanomaterials for Energy and Water Management, and NTU under the New Initiative Fund FY 2010 (M58120031) in Singapore.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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