Spherical, rod-like europium complex nanocrystals or their irregular ultraf
ine particles have been synthesized in a colloidal solution by using cation
ic surfactant as a soft template. These Eu complex nanoparticles showed muc
h stronger fluorescence emission than a precipitate prepared from the same
solutions but without surfactant. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.