Synthesis of urchin-like W18O49 and its application in photocatalysis and tumor photothermal therapy

In this study, using diethylene glycol as a soft template and one-step solvothermal method, we synthesized sea urchin-like W18O49. The physicochemical test results showed that the obtained W18O49 had excellent adsorption and photocatalytic activity. In addition, the obtained sea urchin-like W18O49 exhibited strong near-infrared absorption performance and high photothermal conversion efficiency of 41.8% under the irradiation of 980 nm laser. After 480 s of 980 nm laser irradiation (2.0 W/cm2), the temperature of its aqueous dispersion (1.0 mg/ mL) could rise by 49.1 degrees C rapidly. The results of the cell culture in vitro and the animal experiments in vivo showed that W18O49 had good biocompatibility and could effectively inhibit melanoma cells (B16F10) by using the photothermal effect, showing a good application prospect.