Palladium-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Black Barium Titanate for Multienzyme-Piezoelectric Synergetic Tumor Therapy

Piezocatalytic tumor therapy is an emerging reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating therapeutic approach that relies on piezoelectric polarization under ultrasound (US) irradiation. Optimizing ROS production is a primary objective for enhancing treatment efficiency. In this study, oxygen-vacancy-rich Pd-integrated black barium titanate (BTO) nanoparticles are rationally engineered to boost the ROS generation efficiency via the introduction of Pd. Pd-catalyzed hydrogenation at low temperatures narrows the bandgap of BTO and reduces the recombination rate of electron-hole pairs. Furthermore, Pd has dual-enzyme-mimicking characteristics, including peroxidase- and catalase-mimicking activities, which further heighten the therapeutic efficacy by enhancing ROS production and reversing the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. Importantly, the dual enzymatic activity of Pd can be amplified by multiple redox processes sparked by the piezoelectric potential under US stimulation, resulting in bilaterally enhanced multienzyme-piezoelectric synergetic therapy. In vitro and in vivo results confirm high tumor inhibition in murine breast cancer cells. This work stresses the critical effects of defect engineering-optimized piezodynamic tumor therapy. This work reports on the engineering of oxygen vacancy-rich black barium titanate nanoparticles for amplified piezocatalytic tumor therapy based on the narrowing of the bandgap and the suppression of carrier recombination processes through the introduction of the Pd component.image