High-Yield Synthesis of Multifunctional Tellurium Nanorods to Achieve Simultaneous Chemo-Photothermal Combination Cancer Therapy

Tellurium (Te) is an important semiconductor material with low bandgap energy, which has attracted considerable attention in recent years, due to its special chemical and physical properties and wide potential in electrochemistry, optoelectronics, and biological fields. This study demonstrates a facile and high-yield synthesis strategy of Te nanorods (PTW-TeNRs) decorated by polysaccharide-protein complex, which can achieve simultaneous chemo-photothermal combination therapy against cancers. PTW-TeNRs alone possess high stability under physiological conditions, potent anticancer activities through induction of reactive oxygen species overproduction, and high selectivity among tumor and normal cells. More importantly, they exhibit strong near-infrared (NIR) absorbance and good photothermal conversion ability from NIR light to heat energy. Furthermore, in combination with NIR laser irradiation, PTW-TeNRs exhibit excellent chemo-photothermal efficiency and low toxicity as evidenced by highly efficient tumor ablation ability, but show no obvious histological damage to the major organs. Taken together, this study provides a valid tactic for facile synthesis of multifunctional tellurium nanorods for efficient and combinational cancer therapy.