Surfactant-exfoliated graphene as a near-infrared photothermal ablation agent

Abstract

The near-infrared photothermal ability of pristine surfactant-exfoliated graphene was studied and demonstrated through the thermal ablation of mammalian NG108-15 cells. The graphene microsheets were prepared with polyethylene glycol triblock surfactants to improve biocompatibility while achieving high yields using a scalable and low-cost production method without the need for costly and time-consuming purification steps. The cytotoxicity of the surfactant-coated graphene was studied and it showed moderate toxicity. The ability of the exfoliated graphene to withstand extreme temperature cycling was demonstrated, highlighting the suitability of this material for multiple thermal ablation exposures. The pristine nature of the graphene sheets results in greater absorption in the near-infrared compared with graphene oxide or reduced graphene oxide. The photothermal transduction efficiency was also enhanced and determined to be ≈80% at 808 nm leading to the high efficacy of pristine graphene as an ablation agent.

Development of hydrophobic reduced graphene oxide as a new efficient approach for photochemotherapy

“…29 In fact, rGO itself is rich of oxygenated atoms as it approaches the site of defect, it still raises from the coupling of electronic states against the asymmetric stretch mode and thus considerably improves the infrared absorption for PTT. 30,31 Commonly, cancer disease treatments via PTT facilities involving photosensitising agents utilise their own cells to produce heat from light absorption. Further harvesting for photoablation will result in both the living cancer cells and healthy cells being led to their death.…”

Biocompatible 2D Materials via Liquid Phase Exfoliation

“…Indeed, compared with CTAB‐exfoliated graphene, Pluronic‐exfoliated graphene showed much lower cytotoxicity. [ 73,74 ] No cell death was observed at the concentration of 0.65 µg mL −1 , whereas nearly all cells were dead when the concentration reached 34 µg mL −1 . While Pluronic‐exfoliated graphene exhibited reduced cytotoxicity in comparison to CTAB‐exfoliated graphene, it still exhibited a moderate toxic effect.…”

Phase-Transition Temperature of Gold-Nanorod-Coated Nanodroplets to Microbubbles by Pulsed Laser

“…When a pulsed laser irradiates plasmonic materials, typically noble metals in a nanostructure, significantly more heat is generated via plasmonic surface resonance than when compared to continuous-wave (CW) laser. , This phenomenon has been utilized for photothermal therapy to kill specific cells − or on-demand drug delivery when combined with a drug carrier. ,− However, most studies determine laser specification based on trial-and-error methods. In other words, laser parameters, including CW versus pulsed laser, average power, pulse repetition frequency, and pulse duration, have been selected empirically without appropriate models to predict plasmonic heat for their own applications.…”