Beyond size and shape: accessing the internal microstructure of oxide nanocrystals towards tailored luminescent properties

The work provides a discussion on the effects internal microstructure of rare earth vanadate nanoparticles on optical and reactivity properties, as well as different tools for in situ and ex situ characterisation of the formation and thermal evolution of these solids. The results demonstrate the impacts of intentional or unintentional compositional inhomogeneities in the morphological evolution of particles upon heating, as well as showing that  defect incorporation is as an effective route for tailoring the optical response for photonic and luminescent sensing applications.