Research progress on near-infrared long persistent phosphor materials in biomedical applications

After excitation is stopped, long persistent phosphor materials (LPPs) can emit light for a long time. The most important feature is that it allows the separation of excitation and emission in time. Therefore, it plays a vital role in various fields such as data storage, information technology, and biomedicine. Owing to the unique mechanism of storage and luminescence, LPPs can avoid the interference of sample autofluorescence, as well as show strong tissue penetration ability, good afterglow performance, and rich spectral information in the near-infrared (NIR) region, which provides a broad prospect for the application of NIR LPPs in the field of biomedicine. In recent years, the development and applications in biomedical fields have been advanced significantly, such as biological imaging, sensing detection, and surgical guidance. In this review, we focus on the synthesis methods and luminescence mechanisms of different types of NIR LPPs, as well as their applications in bioimaging, biosensing detection, and cancer treatment in the field of biomedicine. Finally, future prospects and challenges of NIR LPPs in biomedical applications are also discussed.