Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-23-2023
Abstract
Nanoparticles with high absorption cross sections will advance therapeutic and bioimaging nanomedicine technologies. While Au nanoshells have shown great promise in nanomedicine, state-of-the-art synthesis methods result in scattering-dominant particles, mitigating their efficacy in absorption-based techniques that leverage the photothermal effect, such as photoacoustic (PA) imaging. We introduce a highly reproducible synthesis route to monodisperse sub-100 nm Au nanoshells with an absorption-dominant optical response. Au nanoshells with 48 nm SiO2 cores and 7 nm Au shells show a 14-fold increase in their volumetric absorption coefficient compared to commercial Au nanoshells with dimensions commonly used in nanomedicine. PA imaging with Au nanoshell contrast agents showed a 50% improvement in imaging depth for sub-100 nm Au nanoshells compared with the smallest commercially available nanoshells in a turbid phantom. Furthermore, the high PA signal at low fluences, enabled by sub-100 nm nanoshells, will aid the deployment of low-cost, low-fluence light-emitting diodes for PA imaging.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Nano Letters
First Page
7334
Last Page
7340
Recommended Citation
Manuel, L., Vincely, V., Bayer, C., & McPeak, K. (2023). Monodisperse Sub-100 nm Au Nanoshells for Low-Fluence Deep-Tissue Photoacoustic Imaging. Nano Letters, 23 (16), 7334-7340. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c01696