The  paper of  the  month,  chosen  by  the Editor-in-Chief,  is  "Micro and Nanocrystalline LuPO₄(Ln³⁺: Nd, Pr) —Morphology, Luminescence and Inter-ionic Interplays"   by  O. Bezkrovna, P. Zdeb, O. Bezkrovnyi, R. Lisiecki, and P.J. Dereń;

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.144.263

In recent years nanomaterials have been studied extensively because of their broad range of possible applications. One of the areas of applications is in biology and biomedicine, where optically active nanomaterial materials are of special interest since they provide the possibility of building various sensors. The authors of this paper studied lutetium phosphate nanoparticles, the choice of phosphates was based on their low toxicity. Also, these nanoparticles can be used as stable matrices for the introduction of luminescent ions. The paper describes the optimized synthesis process of nano- and micro-sized luminescent LuPO₄ materials and their doping with Pr³⁺ and Nd³⁺ ions. Furthermore, selective excitation of Pr³⁺ and Nd³⁺ ions in co-doped materials is investigated and the luminescence properties of synthesized materials are studied. The physical mechanism of the luminescence process is investigated by the authors.

The paper presents high-level research in the subject of synthesis and photophysical and physicochemical investigation of optically active inorganic nanomaterials. I recommend it to all readers interested in nanotechnology and the physics of nanomaterials.

The Editor-in-Chief