Two-Dimensional Sb₂Se₃ Nanosheets For Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy

Background:Two-dimensional nanomaterials have been extensively studied,owing to the unique physicochemical properties,especially the appearance of graphene.In recent years,many studies have found that various two-dimensional nanomaterials have high biosafety,which make it possible that two-dimensional nanomaterials have great potential in biomedical applications.Two-dimensional nanomaterials which are used for cancer treatment include transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDCs),black phosphorus,two-dimensional transition metal carbides or carbonitrides(MXenes),layered double hydroxides(LDHs)etc.Selenium telluride(Sb2Se3)nanosheet is a new two-dimensional stripped material.Due to the similarity of two-dimensional materials,their bio-application value will be explored.Objective and methods:In this work,we successfully fabricated antimony(111)selenide(Sb2Se3)nanosheets by the top-down liquid exfoliation method.In order to improve the biocompatibility and stability of Sb2Se3,we used polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP)to modify the nanosheets.Owing to the strong near-infrared absorption of Sb2Se3-PVP,it has great potential for photoacoustic imaging and tumor photothermal therapy and it will be studied by optical performance tests,cell experiments,animal experiments and photoacoustic imaging.Results:The prepared Sb2Se3-PVP nanosheets have high stability and dispersibility in different solutions.The Sb2Se3-PVP aqueous solution was exposed to the 808 nm laser,in which the temperature of aqueous solution increased rapidly,showing concentration dependence and power dependence.The in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity experiments and the in vivo animal experiments were introduced.The results of toxicity experiments in vitro and in vivo showed that Sb2Se3-PVP nanosheets have good biosafety and biocompatibility.With strong near-infrared absorption,Sb2Se3-PVP can be used for photothermal therapy under the guidance of photoacoustic imaging.Sb2Se3-PVP showed excellent photothermal treatment effect in vivo,and the tumor inhibition efficiency of Sb2Se3-PVP combined with laser was 94.9%.This work is expected to broaden the application of Sb2Se3-PVP in the diagnosis of cancer treatment...