Chitosan-Capped Au Nanoparticles for Laser Photothermal Ablation Therapy: UV-Vis Characterization and Optothermal Performances

We have reported on the synthesis and characterization of near-infrared- (NIR-) absorbing colloidal nanoparticles prepared by exploiting the one-step reaction of HAuCl4 and Na2S2O3, followed by their stabilization with chitosan. This reaction also produces a big amount of unwanted nanoparticles detuned with respect to the NIR spectral region. For this reason, it is usually assumed that the product has to be filtered and enriched to enhance its NIR absorption, and the possible exploitation of the simpler raw product has never been worthy to be considered. Aiming to investigate this missing aspect, we chose to avoid the purification steps and rather focused on the preparation of the unrefined colloid, identifying the synthesis conditions that maximize its NIR absorbance and, subsequently, testing it as an optothermal transducer by measuring its molar heating rate (MHR). As expected, we found that the performances of the raw colloid are indeed lower than those of its refined version, but only to a limited extent. Moreover, MHR is unexpectedly higher than that deducible for other classical NIR-absorbing nanoparticles, like Au nanorods or Au nanostars. Thus, the product of the simpler preparation protocol appears as a competitive trade-off solution between easy manufacturing and optothermal performances.