Synthesis and characterization of lanthanide-doped sodium holmium fluoride nanoparticles for potential application in photothermal therapy

Abstract

Upconversion nanoparticles (UC NPs) in combination with plasmonic materials have great potential for cancer photothermal therapy. Recently, sodium holmium fluoride (NaHoF₄) is being investigated for luminescence and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent. Here, we present successful synthesis of excellent quality doped NaHoF₄ NPs for possible UC luminescence application and coated for possible photothermal therapy application. Synthesized NaHoF₄ nanocrystals were doped with Yb/Er and coated with gold, gold/silica, silver and polypyrrole (PPy). XRD, XPS and TEM were used to determine structure and morphology of the NPs. Strong UC photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra were obtained from the NPs when excited by near-infrared (NIR) light at 980 nm. Cell viability and toxicity of the NPs were characterized using pancreatic and ovarian cancer cells with results showing that gold/silica coating produced least toxicity followed by gold coating.

Keywords

photothermal therapy / upconversion / photoluminescence / nanoparticle / sodium holmium fluoride

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Acknowledgements

Authors like to thank Professor Dhiraj Sardar at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas for allowing to perform the photoluminescence work in his lab.

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