Folic Acid-Conjugated Silica-Modified TbPO4·H2O Nanorods for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

We report on the synthesis and characterization of folic acid-conjugated silica-modified TbPO4·H2O nanorods for biomedical applications. The uniform shape TbPO4·H2O nanorods with a hexagonal phase were successfully synthesized by wet chemical methods. A novel TbPO4·H2O@silica-NH2 nanocomplex was then formed by functionalizing these nanorods with silica and conjugating with biological agents. The field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray, and X-ray diffraction reveal the morphology and structure of the nanorods, with their controllable sizes (500-800 nm in length and 50-80 nm in diameter). The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was employed to identify chemical substances or functional groups of the TbPO4·H2O@silica-NH2 nanocomplex. The photoluminescence spectra show the four emission lines of TbPO4·H2O@silica-NH2 in folic acid at 488, 540, 585, and 621 nm under 355 nm laser excitation, which could be attributed to the 5D4-7 F j ( J = 6 , 5 , 4 , 3 ) transitions of Tb3+. The TbPO4·H2O@silica-NH2 nanorods were conjugated with folic acid for the detection of MCF7 breast cancer cells. The obtained results show a promising possibility for the recognition of living cells that is of crucial importance in biolabeling.

Synthesis of Multifunctional Eu(III) Complex Doped Fe3O4/Au Nanocomposite for Dual Photo-Magnetic Hyperthermia and Fluorescence Bioimaging

“…Biomedical fluorescence image based on luminescent materials is used to detect viruses and cells as well as estimating their biodistribution in both in-vitro and vivo [ 21 , 22 ]. Some luminescent materials, such as organic dyes, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), and luminescent materials containing rare earth ions, have been extensively studied [ 14 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Several organic dyes have been commercialized to identify ions or molecules associated with viruses and cells.…”