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In this study, the synthesis of TaN nanosheets and their application in theranostic agents is reported. After coating polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the TaN nanosheets, the as‐synthesized PEG‐modified TaN nanosheets (TaN‐PEG) show good stability and biocompatibility. Because of their high absorbance in the near‐IR region, TaN‐PEG can be utilized as photoacoustic imaging contrast agents for tumor imaging. Moreover, TaN‐PEG has significant photothermal conversion performance, exhibiting effective laser‐induced tumor ablation capability. The TaN‐PEG possessing excellent photoacoustic contrast effect and photothermal properties thus have great promise in theranostic applications, especially imaging‐guided cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, manganese tellurite (MnTeO3) nanoparticles are developed as theranostic agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‐guided photothermal therapy of tumor. MnTeO3 nanoparticles are synthesized via a simple one‐step method. The as‐synthesized MnTeO3 nanoparticles with uniform size show good biocompatibility. In particular, MnTeO3 nanoparticles exhibit a high photothermal conversion efficiency (η = 26.3%), which is higher than that of gold nanorods. Moreover, MnTeO3 nanoparticles also have high MRI performance. The longitudinal relaxivity (r1) value of MnTeO3 nanoparticles is determined to be 8.08 ± 0.2 mm−1 s−1, which is higher than that of clinically approved T1‐contrast agents Gd‐DTPA (4.49 ± 0.1 mm−1 s−1). The subsequent MnTeO3 nanoparticles‐mediated photothermal therapy displays a highly efficient ablation of tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo with negligible toxicity. It is demonstrated that MnTeO3 nanoparticles can serve as promising theranostic agents with great potentials for MRI‐guided photothermal therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black phosphorus (BP) has emerged as a rapidly rising star in the field of biomedical science. In this work, BP nanosheets (BPNSs) are synthesized and their potential as a nano‐antibacterial agent is investigated. The concentration and time‐dependent antibacterial activities are evaluated by cell viability assays together with scanning electron microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscope, and the measurement of efflux of RNA release assay. The experimental results show that BPNSs have a strong killing effect on both representatives of gram‐negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) and gram‐positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), and exhibit concentration and time‐dependent antibacterial activity. The sharp edges of BPNSs in the interaction with bacteria can cause physical damage to the bacterial membrane and RNA leakage, resulting in bacterial death. The results demonstrate that the BPNSs show great promise as new nano‐antibacterial materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]