title: Surface plasmon-enhanced Ag/CuS nanocomposites for cancer treatment.
abstract: Photothermal therapy (PTT) for cancer treatment is the use of heat between 41 and 45 °C to damage cancer cells. As a new type of transducer agent for PTT of cancer, CuS nanoparticles have several advantages. The most favorable features are the low cost, simple, and easy preparation and small size for targeting. However, the CuS nanoparticle PTT efficacy needs to be improved for practical applications. In this study, the CuS nano-PTT efficiency is enhanced via the local field enhancement from Ag nanoparticle surface plasmon coupling. The results show that absorbance of CuS nanoparticles in Ag/CuS nanocomposites is enhanced about four times by Ag nanoparticle surface plasmon coupling. Consequently, the PTT efficacy is enhanced and a power of 0.6 W/cm2with a 980-nm laser is sufficient for Ag/CuS nano-PTT activation for cancer treatment in vitro observations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0059 USA ; Department of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430032 China.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0059 USA.
authors.forename: Lun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0059 USA.
authors.forename: Xiaoju
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430032 China.
authors.forename: Guangya
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0059 USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: Ag/CuS nanocomposites; Cancer treatment; Local field enhancement; Photothermal therapy; Surface plasmon resonance