Synthesis of multifunctional rare-earth fluoride/Ag nanowire nanocomposite for efficient therapy of cancer.

Well-dispersed Ag nanowires and PVP-modified BaGdF: Yb, Er spherical nanoparticles were prepared by simple solvothermal and hydrothermal method, and they were further combined to obtain photo-thermal-magnetic multifunctional Ag/BaGdF: Yb, Er nanocomposites. Under NIR laser irradiation, monodispersed rare-earth fluoride BaGdF: Yb, Er in nanocomposite exhibit good upconversion fluorescent. Meanwhile, under the action of an external magnetic field, the nanocomposite also exhibits good magnetic properties and excellent contrast efficiency by CT/MR imaging.

Integrating photoluminescence, magnetism and thermal conversion for potential photothermal therapy and dual-modal bioimaging.

Multifunctional nanocomposites (NCs) incorporating magnetic, luminescent and photothermal conversion properties are endowed with potential application in many fields such as imaging, tumor detection, drug delivery and therapy. Here, multifunctional MWCNTs-NaGdF:Yb, Er, Eu NCs, which offer the potential for integrated bioimaging and photothermal therapy (PTT) were fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method. The resulting sample exhibits uniform morphology, bright dual-modal luminescence and intrinsic paramagnetic properties.