X-ray-Excited Persistent Luminescence of Tb³⁺-Doped Fluoride Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy

X-ray-excited persistent luminescence (XEPersL) of fluoride nanoparticles (NPs) is of great potential in X-ray excitation photodynamic treatment (X-PDT) and X-ray detection fields. However, their practical application is currently impeded by the hazard of X-rays with high dose rates to the human body and low luminescence efficiencies. Here, we reported a feasible strategy for modulating X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL) intensities and XEPersL lifetimes in NaLuF 4:Tb 3+ NPs through adjusting F/Re ratios, which were shown to effectively impact the generation of carrier traps. In addition to the enhanced emission intensity and prolonged decay time in the radioluminescence of NaLuF 4:Tb 3+ NPs with an optimal precursor F/Re ratio of 4.5, a quite low detection limit of 2.01 nGy·s –1 was achieved. Furthermore, the developed fluoride NPs exhibit remarkable luminescence stability. These findings can promote the further exploration of efficient XEPersL nanomaterials with tailored performance in X-PDT and biomedical applications.