Synthesis of multifunctional rare-earth fluoride/Ag nanowire nanocomposite for efficient therapy of cancer.

Well-dispersed Ag nanowires and PVP-modified BaGdF5: Yb3+, Er3+ spherical nanoparticles were prepared by simple solvothermal and hydrothermal method, and they were further combined to obtain photo-thermal-magnetic multifunctional Ag/BaGdF5: Yb3+, Er3+ nanocomposites. Under NIR laser irradiation, monodispersed rare-earth fluoride BaGdF5: Yb3+, Er3+ in nanocomposite exhibit good upconversion fluorescent. Meanwhile, under the action of an external magnetic field, the nanocomposite also exhibits good magnetic properties and excellent contrast efficiency by CT/MR imaging. The NCs possess good structure and photothermal stability at multiple cycles due to that Ag nanowires are modified by polyvinyl pyrrolidone and sodium citrate. The biocompatibility and low toxicity of NCs are also remarkable. Importantly, the unique linear morphology of Ag particles can achieve high efficiency conversion between light and heat. Furthermore, in vitro tests also confirm the high efficiency of photothermal therapy for cancer cells.

Integrating photoluminescence, magnetism and thermal conversion for potential photothermal therapy and dual-modal bioimaging.

Multifunctional nanocomposites (NCs) incorporating magnetic, luminescent and photothermal conversion properties are endowed with potential application in many fields such as imaging, tumor detection, drug delivery and therapy. Here, multifunctional MWCNTs-NaGdF4:Yb3+, Er3+, Eu3+ NCs, which offer the potential for integrated bioimaging and photothermal therapy (PTT) were fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method. The resulting sample exhibits uniform morphology, bright dual-modal luminescence and intrinsic paramagnetic properties. Under near-infrared laser excitation, NCs have excellent photothermal conversion properties. In addition, the MTT assay in HeLa cells shows that the NCs have good biocompatibility. Moreover, the up-conversion luminescence (UCL) imaging, X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging and PTT in vitro of NCs were investigated. The results indicate that NCs can be used for dual-modal imaging-guided diagnose and PTT of cancer cells.