Rational Design Of Branched Au-Fe3o4 Janus Nanoparticles For Simultaneous Trimodal Imaging And Photothermal Therapy Of Cancer Cells

We report a facile and simple hydrogen reduction method to fabricate PEGylated branched gold (Au)-iron oxide (Fe3O4) Janus nanoparticles (JNPs). Note that the hydrogen induces the formation of Fe3O4 during the synthesis process. Due to the strong absorption in the near-infrared range, branched Au-Fe3O4 JNPs showed a significant photothermal effect with a 40% calculated photothermal transduction efficiency under a laser irradiation of 808nm in vitro. Owing to their excellent optical and magnetic properties, branched Au-Fe3O4 JNPs were demonstrated to be advantageous agents for triple-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/photoacoustic imaging (PAI)/computed tomography (CT) in vitro. Therefore, the synthetic approach could be extended to prepare Au-metallic oxide JNPs for specific applications.