Rational Design of Multifunctional Fe@γ-Fe2 O3 @H-TiO2 Nanocomposites with Enhanced Magnetic and Photoconversion Effects for Wide Applications: From Photocatalysis to Imaging-Guided Photothermal Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂ ) has been widely investigated and used in many areas due to its high refractive index and ultraviolet light absorption, but the lack of absorption in the visible-near infrared (Vis-NIR) region limits its application. Herein, multifunctional Fe@γ-Fe₂ O₃ @H-TiO₂ nanocomposites (NCs) with multilayer-structure are synthesized by one-step hydrogen reduction, which show remarkably improved magnetic and photoconversion effects as a promising generalists for photocatalysis, bioimaging, and photothermal therapy (PTT). Hydrogenation is used to turn white TiO₂ in to hydrogenated TiO₂ (H-TiO₂ ), thus improving the absorption in the Vis-NIR region. Based on the excellent solar-driven photocatalytic activities of the H-TiO₂ shell, the Fe@γ-Fe₂ O₃ magnetic core is introduced to make it convenient for separating and recovering the catalytic agents. More importantly, Fe@γ-Fe₂ O₃ @H-TiO₂ NCs show enhanced photothermal conversion efficiency due to more circuit loops for electron transitions between H-TiO₂ and γ-Fe₂ O₃ , and the electronic structures of Fe@γ-Fe₂ O₃ @H-TiO₂ NCs are calculated using the Vienna ab initio simulation package based on the density functional theory to account for the results. The reported core-shell NCs can serve as an NIR-responsive photothermal agent for magnetic-targeted photothermal therapy and as a multimodal imaging probe for cancer including infrared photothermal imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, and photoacoustic imaging.

Keywords: Fe@γ-Fe2O3@H-TiO2; hydrogenated TiO2; multimodal imaging; photothermal cancer therapy; solar-driven photocatalysis.