Engineered lanthanide-based nanomaterials as a novel bio-probe for in vivo dual-modal imaging

Developing the multifunctional bio-probe for clinical diagnosis and research remains urgently demanded and greatly challenging. Herein, we report a new dual-modal bio-probe PEG-modified Sr2YbF7: 0.2%Er3+/0.8%Tm3+ (abbreviated as SYF@PEG), which is prepared by a simply one-pot solvothermal method. SYF@PEG with small size can integrate intense red-light emission, superior X-ray absorption ability, high photostability, excellent cell membrane permeability and low toxicity via adopting the apropos lanthanides/modifier and optimizing the content. Importantly, SYF@PEG successfully realizes in vitro/vivo dual-modal imaging of upconversion luminescence (UCL) and X-ray computed tomography (CT), which would be a potential bio-probe for clinical diagnosis.