808 nm light triggered black TiO2 nanoparticles for killing of bladder cancer cells

•808 nm light triggered black TiO2 nanoparticles are successfully fabricated.•The black TiO2 with narrow bandgap extends photoresponse to near infrared light.•It exhibits low toxicity, good biocompatibility and high anticancer effect in vitro.•It is an efficient photosensitizer to kill the bladder cancer cells.

The black TiO2 nanoparticles are synthesized via a facile calcination method combined with an in-situ controllable solid-state reaction approach. The results indicate that the photocatalyst with a narrow band gap of ~ 2.32 eV extends the photoresponse to visible light and near infrared region. And thus more reactive oxygen species can be obtained to induce the cell-killing under 808 nm light triggering. The as-obtained black TiO2 nanoparticles exhibiting low toxicity, good biocompatibility and high anticancer effect in vitro, is demonstrated as efficient photosensitizers for phototherapy to kill the bladder cancer cells. These findings suggest that the facile synthetic black TiO2 nanomaterials will have broad application in biomedicine.

Graphical abstract808 nm light triggered black TiO2 nanoparticles with narrow bandgap, low toxicity, and good biocompatibility are fabricated via a facile direct calcination method combined with in-situ solid-state chemical reduction approach, and exhibited excellent anticancer effect for killing of bladder cancer cells, which will have broad applications in biomedicine.Download high-res image (182KB)Download full-size image