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0Plasmonic laser-synthesized transition metal nitrides nanoparticles as novel prospective biomedical agents
M.S. Savinov1*, A.A. Popov1, G.V. Tikhonowski \ I.V. Zelepukin12, A.I. Pastukhov3,
S.M. Klimentov1, A.V. Kabashin3
1-MEPhI, Institute of Engineering Physics for Biomedicine (PhysBio), Moscow, Russia 2- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia 3- Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, LP3, Marseille, France
Today, cancer treatment is still facing significant challenges, as traditional methods are often associated with severe side effects and limited localization of therapeutic effects. To overcome this problem, alternative approaches that minimize side effects and improve diagnostic resolution are being developed, although their clinical application is still very limited. Recent advances in nanotechnology, particularly plasmonic nanomaterials such as gold (Au) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs), offer prospects for innovative non-invasive cancer theranostics techniques such as photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and targeted photothermal therapy (PTT). In these procedures, NPs serve as both contrast agents and efficient sensitizers of external radiation destroying cancer cells by localized overheating (hyperthermia). However, since spherical Au NPs have plasmonic peak around 520-540 nm, which is far from the transparency window of biological tissues (650-950 nm), complex architectures, including Au core-shells, nanorods, or nanocages, have to be used to solve the plasmonic mismatch problem. The use of nanomaterials based on group IV transition metal nitrides (TMN) such as TiN, ZrN, and HfN is considered as another solution to this challenge. This type of nanomaterials is currently being actively discussed as alternative plasmonic structures due to the broad plasmonic peak located in the window of relative tissue transparency, along with their low cost and high availability.
However, the synthesis of TMN-based NPs suitable for biological use faces problems, as in the case of chemical approaches, related to surface contamination and possible subsequent toxic effects. On the other hand, the use of "dry" methods such as the arc plasma process leads to the formation of aggregated, hardly water-dispersible structures, which typically form very unstable colloids. So, femtosecond (fs) pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) is often used as an alternative laser-based technology in the synthesis of many nanomaterials for biological applications. This technique, remarkable for its high throughput and simplicity, allows to obtain stable colloidal solutions of clean NPs with controllable physicochemical properties.
Here, we demonstrate our recent results on the fabrication of TMN-based NPs synthesized by PLAL technique, followed by surface modification of the formed NPs, and evaluate the prospects for their applications in bioimaging, PTT, proton therapy, and computed tomography.
This study was supported by RSCF grant 24-72-10052.
