Ambient aqueous synthesis of ultrasmall PEGylated Cu2- xSe nanoparticles as a multifunctional theranostic agent for multimodal imaging guided photothermal therapy of cancer

Ultrasmall PEGylated Cu2-xSe nanoparticles with strong near-infrared absorption have been prepared by an ambient aqueous method. The resultant water-soluble and biocompatible nanoparticles are demonstrated to be a novel nanotheranostic agent for effective deep-tissue photoacoustic imaging, computed tomography imaging, single-photon emission computed tomography imaging, and photothermal therapy of cancer.