Photoactive Lanthanide-Based Upconverting Nanoclusters for Antimicrobial Applications

Developing photoactive nanosystems against microbial infection and its therapeutic application is compromised by the lack of suitable materials or molecular dyes activatable at biofriendly NIR light. In this direction, the upconverting nanoparticles based on core–shell lanthanide-doped nanoclusters are developed synthetically to achieve a broad range of NIR-active phototherapeutic antimicrobial agents. This review illustrates antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) and multimodal therapy by NIR photoirradiation, generated by lanthanum doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs). The objective herein is to discuss the insights in developing the UCNPs for designing efficient aPDTs and their efficacies against emerging antibiotic-resistant bacterial colonies and their biofilms, drug-resistant fungi, and viruses. The biosafety and biocompatibility of UCNPs at both in vitro and in vivo level are also presented in detail. Finally, our perspectives on the ways of future material engineering needed for the effective translation into their real-world applications are also commented.