Comparative Study of Photothermal Conversion Efficiency in Aqueous Suspensions of Silicon and Titanium Nitride Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

The paper presents the results of experiments on studying laser-stimulated heating in the near-infrared region of the spectrum of aqueous suspensions of nanoparticles (NPs) based on silicon (Si and Si–Fe NPs) and titanium nitride (TiN NPs) by a continuous laser with a wavelength of 808 nm and a power of 0.36 mW. Temperature profiles were obtained, and the heating rate and photothermal conversion efficiency were determined for each sample at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. The conversion efficiencies for the studied aqueous suspensions of TiN, Si–Fe, and Si NPs were 90, 36 and 10%, respectively. The results obtained show that TiN and Si–Fe NPs can be used as photoagents to control local photohyperthermia in biomedicine.