Emerging Nanotechnologies for Manufacturing

Chapter 6

Upconverting Fluorescent Nanoparticles for Biological Applications

I. Amalraj Appavoo¹ and Y. Zhang^{1, 2}

¹Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative, National University of Singapore, Singapore

²Division of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Abstract

Fluorescent labelling is widely used as an indispensable tool in biology for the study of complex molecular interactions. Conventional downconversion fluorescence labels with ultraviolet (UV) or short wavelength excitation suffer from the presence of autofluorescence, low signal-to-noise ratio and incident photodamage to living organisms. This chapter focuses on upconverting fluorescent nanoparticles with excitation in near-infrared region. This ...