Design of Multifunctional Nanoparticles for Nanomedicine Applications

Recently we have demonstrated that multicore-shell nanoparticles, made of cadmium telluride and zinc oxide, have great potential to be applied into the field of renewable energies due to the ability to split water into H+ and · OH upon irradiation of visible light. Herein we originally propose the utilization of those nanoparticles for a new lightassisted cancer therapy, that is, photogenerated · OH can lead to the DNA damage of of cells. Nanoparticles with surfaces that can be chemically tailored, exhibit a great advantage over the use of molecules in respect of target specificity and delineated in loco therapy; in this way, further increasing their enormous potential for medical applications. Therefore, the success of this project will benefit Pharmaster (our partner), which has been carrying out the R & D in the pharmaceutical molecules, to take its first step in the field of nanomedicine.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Alexandre Brolo

Student:

Antonio Marcos De Brito Silva

Partner:

Pharmaster Laboratories Ltd

Discipline:

Chemistry

Sector:

Chemicals

University:

University of Victoria