Layered metal oxides such as MoO3 and WO3 have been widely used in the biological field because of their good biocompatibility, low toxicity and easy preparation. However, their near-infrared (NIR) absorption is often very weak, so their efficiency in light-induced biomedical applications is also very low. Professor Cheng Liang from Soochow University and Professor Tan Chaoliang from City University of Hong Kong reported for the first time a strategy for structural engineering of layered MoO3 and WO3 nanostructures so that they have better absorption efficiency in the NIR-II region, and then achieve the Efficient photothermal treatment of cancer.





Key points of this article:

(1) The experiment converts the white, micron-length MoO3 nanoribbons into blue, short, thin, defective, interlayer gap expansion and strong NIR-II absorption MoO3-x nanoribbons through simple lithium treatment. The extinction coefficient of the blue MoO3-x nanobelt is 18.2 Lg-1cm-1, and the photothermal conversion efficiency at 1064 nm is 46.9%. After surface modification, MoO3-x nanobelts can be used as an efficient nanoreagent for photothermal therapy guided by photoacoustic imaging, which can achieve effective cancer cell killing and tumor eradication under 1064 nm laser irradiation.







(2) Studies have shown that the biodegradable MoO3-x nanobelts can be rapidly degraded and discharged in the body. In summary, this study shows that structural engineering of layered metal oxides can adjust its performance, thereby further improving its application efficiency and scope.






references

Zhan Zhou. et al. Activating Layered Metal Oxide Nanomaterials via Structural Engineering as Biodegradable Nanoagents for Photothermal Cancer Therapy. Small. 2021

DOI: 10.1002/smll.202007486

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.202007486