Direct Dry-Grinding Synthesis of Monodisperse Lipophilic CuS Nanoparticles.
Copper sulfide nanoparticles, effective absorbers of near-infrared light, are recently attracting broad interest as a photothermal coupling agent for cancer therapy. Lipophilic copper sulfide nanoparticles are preferred for high performance biomedical applications due to high tissue affinity. Synthesis of lipophilic copper sulfide nanoparticles requires complicated multi-step processes under severe conditions. Here, we describe a new synthetic process, developed by direct dry-grinding of copper(II) acetylacetonate with sulfur under ambient environment at low temperature. The formed CuS nanoparticles are of uniform size, ~10 nm in diameter, and are monodispersed in chloroform. Each covellite CuS nanocrystal surface is modified with oleylamine through hydrogen bonding between sulfur atoms and amine groups of oleylamine. The nanoparticles demonstrate near-infrared light absorption for photothermal applications. The synthetic methodology described here is more convenient and less extreme than previous methods, and should thus greatly facilitate the preparation of photothermal lipophilic copper sulfide nanomaterials for cancer therapy.
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States.
Yajuan
Y
Li
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States.
Julie
J
Scott
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States.
Yi-Tzai
YT
Chen
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States.
Liangran
L
Guo
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States.
Mingyang
M
Zhao
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States.
Xiaodong
X
Wang
Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States ; School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, China.
Wei
W
Lu
biomaterials; chemical synthesis; inorganic compounds; thermal properties