Recent Advances on Black Phosphorus for Biomedicine and Biosensing

Abstract Black phosphorus nanostructures (nano‐BPs) include BP nanosheets, BP quantum dots, and BP nanoparticles. Since first being discovered in 2014, nano‐BP has become one of the most popular nanomaterials. Nano‐BP has many unique properties, such as excellent surface activity, tunable bandgap, high carrier mobility, moderate on/off ratio, excellent biocompatibility, good biodegradation, etc., all of which make nano‐BP particularly attractive in biomedicine and biosensing. This review article comprehensively summarizes recent advances in synthesis, functionalization, biomedicine, and biosensing applications of nano‐BP. Different methods are first introduced, such as mechanical cleavage, liquid‐phase ultrasonic exfoliation, electrochemical exfoliation, solvothermal treatment, and acoustic‐microfluidic stripping, for making the nano‐BP. Then two strategies are emphasized to enhance ambient stability of nano‐BP, namely physical encapsulation and chemical modification. Next, how to develop nano‐BP as advanced imaging agents, nanocarriers, and nanomedicine for bioimaging (fluorescence imaging, thermal imaging, and photoacoustic imaging) and disease treatment (phototherapy and photo/chemical/immune synergistic therapy) is demonstrated. The biosensing applications on nano‐BP is introduced, including electrochemical biosensor, fluorescence biosensor, chemiluminescence biosensor, electrogenerated chemiluminescence biosensor, and colorimetric biosensor. Finally, the current challenges and future perspectives on nano‐BP in bioapplications are discussed.