Colloidal,Functional, Piezoelectric BaTiO3-Au Nanohybrid for Wireless Cell Therapy

Ultrasound-assisted reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation from piezoelectric nanomaterial offers unique wireless therapeutic approach in remote places. In the previous work, piezoelectric barium titanate (BaTiO₃) nanorod have been synthesized and used for wireless cell therapy. However, the piezoelectric property of BaTiO₃ nanorod needs further improvement for diverse applications. In this work, it is shown that gold nanoparticle conjugation with BaTiO₃ nanorod (BaTiO₃-Au) can significantly enhance the piezoelectric performance with the piezoelectric constant value of 110 pm V^?1. The colloidal BaTiO₃-Au is further functionalized with folate for selective targeting of folate-overexpressed cancer cells and used for wireless cell therapy via intracellular ROS generation under ultrasound exposure. The synthesized colloidal nanohybrid can be used for various therapeutic applications.