Lanthanide-based laser single crystals and luminiscent materials are prepared and optically characterized. Emphasis is paid in femtosecond lasers and upconverting nanoparticles for biomedical purposes.
Nanoparticle Synthesis Laboratory
The purpose of this lab is the fabrication of novel designs of crystalline inorganic nanoparticles (10-20 nm size) based in lanthanides to act as nanoprobes (NPs) for improved multimodal (photoluminescence and magnetic resonance) imaging and for optimized ratiometric thermometry with nanometric resolution. These NPs are targeted to their incorporation in devices for biomedical diagnosis and potentially related with cancer therapies by hyperthermia processes.
We propose new host compositions and nanoprobe coatings (core-shell-based NPs) to overcome the particle degradation usually observed in water and other biomedical fluids. Wet chemical routes, either coprecipitation in organic solvents, sol-gel or eventually hidro/solvo-thermal techniques are used to prepare these NPs.
