I graduated from East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST, CHINA) focusing on fluorescent composite materials for biological applications. Currently, I am pursuing my PhD degree in the Nanosfun group (ICN2) and my thesis is focused on the development of new upconverting nanocarriers for imaging biological systems and smart materials.

New photofunctional nanomaterials with switchable optical properties and their applications in nanomedicine

Photon upconversion, the conversion of lower energy incident radiation into higher energy luminescence is currently a hot research field. Several scientific advances have been achieved during the last years and different strategies have been developed to induce upconversion. Much effort is being made to obtain stable, efficient and large-energy jump upconverting solutions or solid materials. Lately, nanostructuration or confinement of these materials in solid micro/nanomaterials seems providing new new and/or enhancement properties to the upconversion systems (efficiency, stability, dispersability, etc.). However, these materials still present important drawbacks that are nowadays preventing their use in real applications, such as bioimaging and material science and more research is required.

Therefore the proposed project aims the development of novel nanostructured triplet-triplet annihilation-based materials with enhanced upconverting properties. These nanomaterials will be tested as fluorescent bioimaging agents and for the fabrication of upconverting solid materials.