Plasmonic Band Tunable (Au Nanocrystal)/SnO2 Core/Shell Hybrids for Photothermal Therapy

Coating an oxide shell is an attractive method to overcome the aggregation and biological cytotoxicity brought by the surfactant on Au nanorods in photothermal therapy. (Au nanorod)/SnO2 core/shell nanostructures are ideal candidates. However, developing an easy-operation and versatile method to prepare this hybrid is still a great challenge. Herein, a simple and rapid routine is developed to the synthesis of SnO2 shelled Au nanorod. The plasmonic bands of the core/shell nanostructures are tuned in the biological transparency window by changing the shell thickness and the core size. Additionally, this synthetic strategy is versatile when the monometallic and bimetallic Au, Pt, and Pd with various shapes are employed as the core. It is further demonstrated that the (Au nanorod)/SnO2 core/shell nanostructures show a good biocompatibility and a high photothermal conversion efficiency in photothermal therapy. This study therefore provides a versatile way to synthesizing (metal nanocrystal)/semiconductor nanostructures, which will therefore be beneficial for widening their applications.