Photothermal heating of titanium nitride nanomaterials for fast and uniform laser warming of cryopreserved biomaterials

Abstract

Titanium nitride (TiN) is presented as an alternative plasmonic nanomaterial to the commonly used gold (Au) for its potential use in laser rewarming of cryopreserved biomaterials. The rewarming of vitrified, glass like state, cryopreserved biomaterials is a delicate process as potential ice formation leads to mechanical stress and cracking on a macroscale, and damage to cell walls and DNA on a microscale, ultimately leading to the destruction of the biomaterial. The use of plasmonic nanomaterials dispersed in cryoprotective agent solutions to rapidly convert optical radiation into heat, generally supplied by a focused laser beam, proposes a novel approach to overcome this difficulty. This study focuses on the performance of TiN nanoparticles (NPs), since they present high thermal stability and are inexpensive compared to Au. To uniformly warm up the nanomaterial solutions, a beam splitting laser system was developed to heat samples from multiple sides with equal beam energy distribution. In addition, uniform laser warming requires equal distribution of absorption and scattering properties in the nanomaterials. Preliminary results demonstrated higher absorption but less scattering in TiN NPs than Au nanorods (GNRs). This led to the development of TiN clusters, synthetized by nanoparticle agglomeration, to increase the scattering cross-section of the material. Overall, this study analyzed the heating rate, thermal efficiency, and heating uniformity of TiN NPs and clusters in comparison to GNRs at different solution concentrations. TiN NPs and clusters demonstrated higher heating rates and solution temperatures, while only clusters led to a significantly improved uniformity in heating. These results highlight a promising alternative plasmonic nanomaterial to rewarm cryopreserved biological systems in the future.

Advanced cryopreservation engineering strategies: the critical step to utilize stem cell products

“…1 C). Moreover, compared with GNRs, titanium nitride (TiN) nanomaterials showed better photothermal ability (Alvarez et al 2022 ). TiN nanomaterials were found to provide higher heating rates and temperature uniformity during laser rewarming (Fig.…”

“…D Laser rewarming of TiN NPs containing CPA microdroplets. Reproduced with permission (Alvarez et al 2022 ). Copyright 2022, Bioengineering and Biotechnology.…”

Probing the Size Effect of Graphene Oxide Nanosheets on Ice Crystal Regulation and Laser-Assisted Rapid Rewarming

“…With the rapid development of materials science and nanotechnology, some researchers have devoted effort to exploring novel deicing nanomaterials for cell cryopreservation, including carbon dots, 22 metal−organic frameworks (MOFs), 23,24 two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, 25−30 and other nanomaterials. 31,32 Among them, 2D nanomaterials have a wide range of applications in the fields of energy and biology due to their unique structure (functional groups and large specific surface area) and excellent catalytic and optical properties. 33−36 icing materials.…”

“…With the rapid development of materials science and nanotechnology, some researchers have devoted effort to exploring novel deicing nanomaterials for cell cryopreservation, including carbon dots, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), , two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, − and other nanomaterials. , Among them, 2D nanomaterials have a wide range of applications in the fields of energy and biology due to their unique structure (functional groups and large specific surface area) and excellent catalytic and optical properties. − Recently, 2D materials have attracted more attention in the field of cell cryopreservation among these anti-icing materials. − , For example, Wang et al studied the inhibitory effect of graphene oxide nanosheets (GO NSs) on ice crystals in cell cryopreservation and found that GO NSs could be adsorbed onto the surface of ice crystals and played a critical role in modifying the morphology of ice crystals and controlling the growth of ice crystals . In addition, GO NSs and MOS 2 nanosheets also exhibited significant photothermal effects under near-infrared irradiation and were successfully applied to the rapid recovery of frozen cells, improving cell survival .…”