RESUMEN
Rare earth (RE) phosphates and vanadates are structurally similar compositions that display distinct but complementary luminescent properties. The properties of these phosphors can be combined in REPO4-REVO4 heterostructures during the development of new sensing technologies for biological applications. This work presents the synthesis of hollow RE phosphate/vanadate colloidal particles and evaluates their applicability as luminescent markers. Hydrothermal treatments of RE hydroxycarbonate particles in the presence of the PO43- and VO43- precursors afforded the final REPO4-REVO4 solids in a two-step template synthesis. We converted precursor hydroxycarbonate particles into the final heterostructures and characterized their structure and morphology. According to our detailed study into the spectroscopic properties of Eu3+-doped particles and their luminescence response to several species, the presence of the phosphate and vanadate phases in a single particle provided different chemical environments and enabled the design of a ratiometric approach to detect H2O2. These results open new perspectives for the development of new intracellular luminescent markers.