Elemental Boron Nanoparticles: Production by Ultrasonication in Aqueous Medium and Application in Boron Neutron Capture Therapy

Experimental synthesis, functionalized modifications and potential applications of monoelemental zero-dimensional boron nanomaterials

“…Except for the above approaches for experimental synthesis of 0D boron nanomaterials, previous reports have involved some integrated approaches, and have described the integration of different synthesis methods, such as sonication-ball milling, 74,75 grinding-solvothermal, 77 mechanical milling-sonication, 79 ultrasonic-cascade fractionation, 83 ball milling-combustion, 89 This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022 etc. Meng et al employed ultrasonication and ball millingassisted exfoliation from bulk boron to produce BQDs.…”

“…Uspenskii et al explored a combined method of ultrasonic dispersion with cascade fractionation to prepare elemental BNPs. 83 Long-term (t 1 : 360 min) ultrasonication of the initial micro-size (0. 89 Mg, B 2 O 3 powder (98% purity, <149 mm) and KClO 3 were mixed through an ordinary blender, controlling the mass ratio of B 2 O 3 / Mg/KClO 3 to 100 : 105 : 17, and then the mixture was treated via high-energy ball milling (300 rpm, 20 min).…”

“…In previous reports, the sonochemistry method is utilized to conduct LPE of bulk boron, including ice-bath sonication, highenergy (400/700 W) sonication, low-temperature (5 C) ultrasonication, and probe (10 mm) ultrasonication. 70,[74][75][76]79,81,83 Sometimes, the LPE process of bulk boron involves high-energy sonication or low-temperature ultrasonication followed by ball milling or cascade fractionation steps, 74,75,83 and mechanical milling followed by sonication steps. 79 The ultrasonic-assisted LPE approach has been widely employed to prepare 0D boron nanomaterials.…”

“…Uspenskii et al reported the production of elemental BNPs (<100 nm in size) by ultrasonication in aqueous medium. 83 The production process includes ultrasonic dispersion (a few, several hours) of amorphous boron (>99 wt% of boron, 0.5-4 mm) in doubly distilled water followed by cascade fractionation.…”

“…In previous studies, 0D boron nanomaterials have been extensively applied to the signicant eld of biomedicine therapy. 70,77,83,96,129,131,132,144,157 BNPs conjugate with chlorin e 6 amino amide derivatives, and the conjugate serves as a potential agent for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). 129,131 Gao This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022 et al prepared boron cluster-containing redox nanoparticles that act as boron delivery systems with high therapeutic efficiency and low adverse effects for BNCT.…”