Solvothermal Synthesis of LaF3:Ce Nanoparticles for Use in Medicine: Luminescence, Morphology and Surface Properties
, Maxim Sychov 3, Toru Aoki 1,4 and Hisashi Morii 4
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors synthesized LaF3:Ce nanoparticles and studied its luminescence, morphology, and surface properties. The study is well organized and contains sufficient details about the synthesis, effect of solvents and surfactants through various suitable characterizations and are suitable to be published in this journal after minor changes.
1. Check the caption of figure 2 and do the required corrections.
2. The X-ray induced luminescence spectra presented in figure 2 (b) has offset between different curves. Therefore, it cannot be concluded from X-ray luminescence that 5% is the optimal concentration.
3. From figure 4 the particles shapes are not clear, and looks difficult to calculate the particles sizes from it. Please elaborate more about the software used and calculation of particle sizes.
4. In line 97-98 it is written “ The decay time was measured with a Hamamatsu compact fluorescence lifetime spectrometer 11367 (TR 50 ns, frequency 10000 MH).” But in the results and discussions section there is no data presented about the decay time of samples. It is suggested to include the decay time in the manuscript.
5. In figure 8(b) the excitation between 90-150 nm are attributed to host excitations, however it is well known that there can be five possible excitation bands from 5d state of the Ce ion in the crystalline host. Therefore, it is required to provide more detailed investigations about the excitation spectra presented in figure 8(b).
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
The authors express their gratitude for your thoughtful review. The authors hope now you will find a new version of our article worth publishing.
the following changes have been made:
1. The caption of figure 2 was changed
2. Figure 2(b) was improved: now the X-ray luminescence curves have no offset and are located on the same background line.
3. In Materials and Methods section, explanations of the calculation of particle sizes and the construction of size distribution histograms were introduced.
4. Unfortunately, the line about measuring the decay time was wrong, so it was removed. The authors did not carry out these measurements for lanthanum fluoride
5. The authors carried out additional studies to explain the behaviour of the excitation spectrum presented in Figure 8(b).
Best regards,
Anastasiia Dorokhina
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Editor,
This manuscript investigated the synthesis of the LaF3 nanoparticles doped with cerium (Ce3+) at a concentration of 4...6 mol.% by the solvothermal method. Have the following suggestions and comments to improve the state of the study.
The paper is not in good format (the template is for the year 2022, “Figure 1 or fig. 1”, throughout the manuscript should be written the same).
Line 86: The authors wrote "All samples have a 5%mol. cerium concentration", but at line 70 they write "with composition LaF3:Ce3+ 4...6%mol.", which is not clear, it creates confusion.
Line 113: eight main peaks (002, 110, 111, 112, 300, 113, 220, 221, 223) = nine main peaks (002, 110, 111, 112, 300, 113, 220, 221, 223);
Line 114: LaF3:4%Ce3+, LaF3:5%Ce3+ and LaF3:5%Ce3+ - for the last two systems repeat the Ce concentration, please check.
At lines 97, 98 authors wrote “The decay time was measured with a Hamamatsu compact fluorescence lifetime spectrometer..:, where are listed and discussed the obtained dat from these measurements?
The authors should explain why the 255 nm excitation wavelength was chosen for photoluminescence measurements (line 125).
The Abstract is so important for the reader because most readers do not read the whole article, but read the abstract. The abstract in its current form should be revised and supplemented with data on X-ray luminescence and Zeta potential. Also, the results obtained from X-ray luminescence and Zeta potential measurements are not discussed in the conclusion section. Minor point: Line 242: different amount= different amounts
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
The authors express their gratitude for your thoughtful review. The authors hope now you will find a new version of our article worth publishing.
the following changes have been made:
1. The captions “Figure ***” were rewritten the same through all the article.
2. In the part Materials and Methods, the section with the description of synthesis was rewritten. Now this section is more complete, and we hope that it is more understandable for readers.
3. Unfortunately, the line about measuring the decay time was wrong, so it was removed. The authors did not carry out these measurements for lanthanum fluoride.
4. The authors carried out additional studies to explain the behaviour of the excitation spectrum presented in Figure 8(b).
5. For a more detailed and understandable description of the experiments described in the article, the abstract and conclusion have been changed.
Minor changes were also made, bugs were fixed in accordance with the comments of the reviewer.
