Cr3+/Y3+ co-doped persistent luminescence nanoparticles with biological window activation for in vivo repeatable imaging

Abstract The near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence materials (PLMs) can remain long-lasting luminescence after removal of the excitation light, which permits bioimaging with high sensitivity owing to the absence of background fluorescence interference from in situ excitation. Recently, the NIR PLMs have aroused intensive research interest in bioimaging. However, the optimal excitation wavelength of current NIR PLMs locate in the ultraviolet region with shallow tissue penetration, making it difficult to activate effectively in vivo, and seriously hindering their further application in bioimaging. Herein, we report a novel kind of Cr3+ ions and Y3+ ions co-doped NIR PLM, Zn1.3Ga1.4Sn0.3O4:Cr3+,Y3+ (ZGSCY), which emits NIR persistent luminescence at 696 nm. Compared with Zn1.3Ga1.4Sn0.3O4:Cr3+ (ZGSC) excited by the light with a wavelength in the biological window (>650 nm), after co-doping with Y3+ ions, the NIR persistent luminescence performance of ZGSCY is significantly improved because of the increase of trap concentration in the matrix. In addition, we synthesized ZGSCY nanoparticles (NPs) by the combustion method, which exhibit excellent optical properties after being excited by the light with a wavelength in the biological window. After surface modification with PEG, the ZGSCY NPs present low cytotoxicity. Notably, due to the co-doping of Y3+ ions, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of ZGSCY NPs in vivo imaging is about 1.8 times higher than that of the ZGSC NPs. Furthermore, the rechargeable in vivo imaging and passive tumor-targeted imaging are successfully achieved by activating with a light-emitting diode (LED, 659 nm) after intravenous injection of ZGSCY. Thus, this kind of NIR PLM with high excitation efficiency performance in the biological window is expected to promote its biomedical application in deep tissues.