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CePO(4):Tb/LaPO(4) nanowires with a core/sheath architecture have been successful synthesized by a facile aqueous chemical method mediated by original CePO(4):Tb aggregation seeds. The seed crystals serve as both a luminescence center and a nucleation site for epitaxial growth. The seed nanocrystals have an irregular sphere-like shape with an average size of around 6.8 nm and a narrow size distribution. When the seed crystals are coated with LaPO(4), the resulting core/sheath CePO(4):Tb/LaPO(4) nanowires have mean diameters of about 7.6 nm and lengths up to 331 nm. Both photo- and x-ray luminescence demonstrate that the LaPO(4) coating increases the luminescence efficiency. These core/sheath structured nanowires may find potential applications in solid state lighting, medical imaging and radiation detection.

The purpose of this study is to determine the ability of fluorescent nanoparticles to diffuse into a crystalline lens. Intact porcine lenses from five-month-old pigs, intact human lenses obtained from three donors aged 41, 42 and 45 years, and sections of human lens cortex obtained from four donors aged 11, 19, 32, and 34 years were incubated for 72 h at 7 °C in aqueous solutions of green (566 nm) and red (652 nm) fluorescent water soluble cadmium tellurium (CdTe) nanoparticles. As demonstrated by fluorescent and confocal microscopy, the CdTe nanoparticles diffused into the porcine and human lens capsule and into human cortical lens fibres; however, the nanoparticles did not pass through the intact lens capsule. Nanoparticles can be used as a method for studying intracellular structure and biochemical pathways within the lens capsule and cortical lens fibres to further understand cataractogenesis and may serve as a carrier for chemotherapeutic agents for the potential treatment of primary and secondary cataracts.