Morphology-dependent near-infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic TiN nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer, antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imaging

Plasmonic titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles are emerging nanomaterials possessing several orders of magnitude higher absorption cross section, but also exhibit higher photostability compared to conventional photosenzitizers. In the recent years, TiN has emerged as a highly effective electrocataly...

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Main Authors: Katerina Polakova, Sourav Rej, Sarka Hradilova, Jan Belza, Tomas Malina, Katerina Barton Tomankova, Renata Vecerova, Petr Matous, Petr Paral, Ariana Opletalova, Jana Soukupova, Tomas Pluhacek, Ludek Sefc, Radek Zboril, Stepan Kment, Alberto Naldoni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-03-01
Series:Applied Surface Science Advances
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666523925000224
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author Katerina Polakova
Sourav Rej
Sarka Hradilova
Jan Belza
Tomas Malina
Katerina Barton Tomankova
Renata Vecerova
Petr Matous
Petr Paral
Ariana Opletalova
Jana Soukupova
Tomas Pluhacek
Ludek Sefc
Radek Zboril
Stepan Kment
Alberto Naldoni
author_facet Katerina Polakova
Sourav Rej
Sarka Hradilova
Jan Belza
Tomas Malina
Katerina Barton Tomankova
Renata Vecerova
Petr Matous
Petr Paral
Ariana Opletalova
Jana Soukupova
Tomas Pluhacek
Ludek Sefc
Radek Zboril
Stepan Kment
Alberto Naldoni
author_sort Katerina Polakova
collection DOAJ
description Plasmonic titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles are emerging nanomaterials possessing several orders of magnitude higher absorption cross section, but also exhibit higher photostability compared to conventional photosenzitizers. In the recent years, TiN has emerged as a highly effective electrocatalytic and environmentally friendly material with good biocompatibility. Its unique physicochemical properties and cost-effectiveness are essential for wide utilization in biomedicine. However, the effect of morphology of TiN on the photothermal therapy (PTT) efficiency has not been studied yet. Here, TiN nanocrystals of two precisely defined morphologies - nanobars and nanospheres - were prepared by unique pseudomorphic conversion of TiO2 nanowires and nanospheres via nitridation at 800 °C. Due to their multiple plasmonic resonances, the resulting materials show broad optical absorption spanning the entire solar spectrum and biological window including the NIR-I (750 – 1000 nm) and NIR-II (1000 – 1350 nm). Using low power illumination 318 mW/cm2 and NIR LED irradiation 940 nm, we observed a morphology-dependent PTT bioactivity, with the TiN nanobars being more efficient in cancer HeLa cells killing, while nanospheres showed higher antimicrobial activity toward Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria strains. Moreover, acute and long-term in vitro biocompatibility together with in vivo monitoring of biodistribution showing enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect were confirmed by photoacoustic (PA) imaging in tumor bearing mice (C57BL/6J albino, EL4 lymphoma cell line). Thus, both TiN morphologies - nanobars and nanospheres are promising candidates in theranostic application via PTT therapy and PA imaging.
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spelling doaj-art-2c7eebef8dd4442a8b408963fdafbcce2025-08-20T03:01:10ZengElsevierApplied Surface Science Advances2666-52392025-03-012610071310.1016/j.apsadv.2025.100713Morphology-dependent near-infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic TiN nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer, antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imagingKaterina Polakova0Sourav Rej1Sarka Hradilova2Jan Belza3Tomas Malina4Katerina Barton Tomankova5Renata Vecerova6Petr Matous7Petr Paral8Ariana Opletalova9Jana Soukupova10Tomas Pluhacek11Ludek Sefc12Radek Zboril13Stepan Kment14Alberto Naldoni15Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; Corresponding authors.Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech RepublicRegional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech RepublicRegional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech RepublicRegional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; Nanotechnology Centre, Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech RepublicDepartment of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 3, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic; Corresponding authors.Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 3, 779 00, Olomouc, Czech RepublicCenter for Advanced Preclinical Imaging (CAPI), First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Salmovská 3, 120 00 Prague, Czech RepublicCenter for Advanced Preclinical Imaging (CAPI), First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Salmovská 3, 120 00 Prague, Czech RepublicRegional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech RepublicRegional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech RepublicDepartment of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech RepublicCenter for Advanced Preclinical Imaging (CAPI), First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Salmovská 3, 120 00 Prague, Czech RepublicRegional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; Nanotechnology Centre, Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech RepublicRegional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; Nanotechnology Centre, Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 15, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech RepublicDepartment of Chemistry and NIS Centre, University of Turin, 10125 Turin, Italy; Corresponding authors.Plasmonic titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles are emerging nanomaterials possessing several orders of magnitude higher absorption cross section, but also exhibit higher photostability compared to conventional photosenzitizers. In the recent years, TiN has emerged as a highly effective electrocatalytic and environmentally friendly material with good biocompatibility. Its unique physicochemical properties and cost-effectiveness are essential for wide utilization in biomedicine. However, the effect of morphology of TiN on the photothermal therapy (PTT) efficiency has not been studied yet. Here, TiN nanocrystals of two precisely defined morphologies - nanobars and nanospheres - were prepared by unique pseudomorphic conversion of TiO2 nanowires and nanospheres via nitridation at 800 °C. Due to their multiple plasmonic resonances, the resulting materials show broad optical absorption spanning the entire solar spectrum and biological window including the NIR-I (750 – 1000 nm) and NIR-II (1000 – 1350 nm). Using low power illumination 318 mW/cm2 and NIR LED irradiation 940 nm, we observed a morphology-dependent PTT bioactivity, with the TiN nanobars being more efficient in cancer HeLa cells killing, while nanospheres showed higher antimicrobial activity toward Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria strains. Moreover, acute and long-term in vitro biocompatibility together with in vivo monitoring of biodistribution showing enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect were confirmed by photoacoustic (PA) imaging in tumor bearing mice (C57BL/6J albino, EL4 lymphoma cell line). Thus, both TiN morphologies - nanobars and nanospheres are promising candidates in theranostic application via PTT therapy and PA imaging.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666523925000224Titanium nitridePhotothermal therapy (PTT)AnticancerAntibacterialPhotoacoustic imaging (PAI)
spellingShingle Katerina Polakova
Sourav Rej
Sarka Hradilova
Jan Belza
Tomas Malina
Katerina Barton Tomankova
Renata Vecerova
Petr Matous
Petr Paral
Ariana Opletalova
Jana Soukupova
Tomas Pluhacek
Ludek Sefc
Radek Zboril
Stepan Kment
Alberto Naldoni
Morphology-dependent near-infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic TiN nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer, antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imaging
Applied Surface Science Advances
Titanium nitride
Photothermal therapy (PTT)
Anticancer
Antibacterial
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI)
title Morphology-dependent near-infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic TiN nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer, antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imaging
title_full Morphology-dependent near-infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic TiN nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer, antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imaging
title_fullStr Morphology-dependent near-infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic TiN nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer, antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imaging
title_full_unstemmed Morphology-dependent near-infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic TiN nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer, antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imaging
title_short Morphology-dependent near-infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic TiN nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer, antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imaging
title_sort morphology dependent near infrared photothermal activity of plasmonic tin nanobars and nanospheres for anticancer antibacterial therapy and deep in vivo photoacoustic imaging
topic Titanium nitride
Photothermal therapy (PTT)
Anticancer
Antibacterial
Photoacoustic imaging (PAI)
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666523925000224
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