Inkjet printing lanthanide doped nanorods test paper for visual assays of nitroaromatic explosives.

Highlights: [•] A test paper was used for visualization of explosive 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) by the naked eye. [•] TNP can strongly quench the phosphorescence of NaGdF4:Ce/Tb nanorods. [•] Polyethylenimine (PEI) molecules facilitate the formation of uniform NaGdF4 nanorods. [•] PEI molecules provide specific recognized sites for TNP by the acid–base pairing interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]