The study in which our CISeAL researcher, Myrian Rivera, participated together with her laboratory technician, Mateo Salazar, analyzes the tuning of the photothermal properties of graphene oxide through doping with nitrogen and boron heteroatoms, with the aim of optimizing its application as an active agent in photothermal therapies for the elimination of cancer cells, integrating experimental assays and computational simulations based on density functional theory (DFT). In view of the limitations and side effects of conventional oncological treatments, photothermal therapy emerges as a minimally invasive alternative that enables the selective destruction of tumor cells through a controlled increase in temperature, using nanomaterials capable of converting light energy into heat. In this work, graphene oxide was synthesized and functionalized through hydrothermal processes to obtain nitrogen-doped (NGO) and boron-doped (BGO) materials, which were characterized at the morphological, structural, and chemical levels by electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, as well as FTIR, Raman, and XPS spectroscopies, confirming monolayer structures, high crystallinity, and effective incorporation of the dopants into the graphene lattice.
Cytotoxicity assays showed that all three materials exhibit low toxicity, with BGO being the least cytotoxic, reinforcing its suitability for biomedical applications. Photothermal tests performed with irradiation at 635 nm showed temperature increases above the threshold required to induce thermal damage in tumor cells and enabled elimination rates close to 98% in the T-47D breast cancer cell line, demonstrating high efficacy when the materials are activated by light. BGO stood out for reaching the highest temperatures and exhibiting rapid thermal dissipation, favoring greater control and safety of the treatment. At the theoretical level, DFT simulations made it possible to understand how doping modifies the electronic structure of graphene by shifting the Fermi level, increasing the electronic density of states, and enhancing light absorption, which explains the experimentally observed increase in the efficiency of converting light energy into heat. Overall, the results show that the functionalization of graphene oxide with heteroatoms enables the design of nanomaterials with tunable photothermal properties, low cytotoxicity, and high anticancer effectiveness, providing a solid basis for the development of safer and more efficient oncological therapies and consolidating CISeAL’s contribution in the field of nanomedicine and advanced materials applied to health.
Are you interested in learning in greater detail how these nanomaterials can transform future strategies for cancer treatment? Read the full article at the following link:
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/26/24/11771
