With the large near-infrared (NIR) absorption and the high NIR photothermal effect, gold nanostar (AuNS) has potential application in the biomedical field. However, the complicated synthesis process with toxic precursors is a serious issue for its practice. Herein, we reported a novel green synthesis procedure using chitosan polymer from marine and vitamin C for the preparation of AuNS. For the first time, chitosan was used as a stabilizer, shape-directing, and size-controllable agents for the preparation of AuNS. The size of the obtained AuNS ranged from 111 to 225 nm with different λmax. The AuNS exhibited near-infrared absorption with the excellent biocompatibility toward non-cancerous cell line (MG63) and cancerous cell line (MDA-MB-231). The in vitro photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging with assisting of obtained AuNS were also proved the high efficiency of these nanoparticles.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2019.06.023