Sub-10-nm Pd Nanosheets with Renal Clearance for Efficient Near-Infrared Photothermal Cancer Therapy

Efficient renal clearance is of fundamentally important property of nanoparticles for their in vivo biomedical applications. In this work, we report the successful synthesis of ultra-small Pd nanosheets (SPNS) with an average diameter of 4.4 nm and their application in photothermal cancer therapy using a near infrared laser. The ultra-small Pd nanosheets have strong optical absorption in the NIR region and high photothermal conversion efficiency (52.0%) at 808 nm. After being surface-functionalized with reduced glutathione (GSH), the SPNS-GSH was administered to mice to investigate the biodistribution, photothermal efficacy and tumor ablation in vivo. The in vivo photothermal therapy studies clearly demonstrate that surface modification with GSH allows the nanosheets to exhibit prolonged blood circulation and thus high accumulation in tumors. Upon 808 nm NIR irradiation, the tumors can be completely ablated. More importantly, with the size below the renal filtration limit (<10 nm), the GSHylated Pd nanosheets can be nicely cleared from body through the renal excretion route and into urine. Together with the high efficacy of NIR photothermal therapy, the unique renal clearance properties make the ultra-small Pd nanosheets promising for practical use in photothermal cancer therapy.