Investigation of rare earth upconversion fluorescent nanoparticles in biomedical field

Rare earth upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) with the superior performance in the biomedical field have attracted great attention. Due to the good light stability, low toxicity, deep tissue penetration and excellent bio-compatibility, UCNPs display great potential for development in the biomedical field. Excellent related reports are increasing year by year, like molecular sensing, bioimaging and therapeutics. In this paper, the preparation, modification, application of upconversion fluorescent nanoparticles and the latest research results in the field of biomedical materials have been reported in detail. Graphical abstract: In this paper, we systematically summarize and describe the preparation, modification, application and latest discovery in biomedical field of rare earth upconversion nanoparticles (UCNP). Due to the good light stability, low toxicity, deep tissue penetration and excellent biocompatibility, UCNPs display superior performance for the development of biomedical field in cancer therapy. Our work will certainly inspire researchers in related fields to create more meaningful upconversion nanomaterials and do more contributions to human cancer treatment research.