Ultrasmall PEI-Decorated Bi2Se3 Nanodots as a Multifunctional Theranostic Nanoplatform for in vivo CT Imaging-Guided Cancer Photothermal Therapy
Peng Zhang, Lei Wang, Xiuying Chen, Xiang Li, Qinghai Yuan
Abstract
Bi-based nanomaterials, such as Bi 2 Se 3 , play an important part in biomedicine, such as photothermal therapy (PTT) and computed tomography (CT) imaging. Polyethylenimine (PEI)-modified ultrasmall Bi 2 Se 3 nanodots were prepared using an ultrafast synthetic method at room temperature (25°C). Bi 2 Se 3 nanodots exhibited superior CT imaging performance, and could be used as effective photothermal reagents owing to their broad absorption in the ultraviolet–visible–near infrared region. Under irradiation at 808 nm, PEI-Bi 2 Se 3 nanodots exhibited excellent photothermal-conversion efficiency of up to 41.3%. Good biocompatibility and significant tumor-ablation capabilities were demonstrated in vitro and in vivo . These results revealed that PEI-Bi 2 Se 3 nanodots are safe and a good nanotheranostic platform for CT imaging-guided PTT of cancer.