Luminescent nanomaterials doped with rare-earth elements and prospects for their biomedical applications

Luminescent nanomaterials doped with rare-earth elements are characterized by such physicochemical properties as long-lived luminescence, large Stokes or anti-Stokes shifts, narrow emission bands, high photostability and low toxicity. These materials can be considered as a new generation of biosensors along with conventional molecular probes, such as organic dyes, quantum dots and chelate-based lanthanide probes. In recent years there has been significant interest in the study of functional nanomaterials based on rare earth elements. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of recent advances in the development of luminescent inorganic nanoparticles doped with rare earth elements which could be used for biomedical applications.