Piezotronic Effect-Augmented CuO-BaTiO Sonosensitizers for Multifunctional Cancer Dynamic Therapy

Ultrasound (US)-triggered sonodynamic therapy (SDT) based on semiconductor nanomaterials has attracted considerable attention for cancer therapy. However, most inorganic sonosensitizers suffer from low efficiency due to the rapid recombination of electron-hole pairs. Herein, the CuO-BaTiO piezoelectric heterostructure was fabricated as a sonosensitizer and chemodynamic agent, simultaneously, for improving reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and cancer therapeutic outcome. Under US irradiation, the CuO-BaTiO heterojunction with a piezotronic effect exhibits high-performance singlet oxygen (O) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) generation to enhance SDT. Moreover, it possesses Fenton-like reaction activity to convert endogenous HO into •OH for chemodynamic therapy (CDT). The integration of SDT and CDT substantially boosts ROS generation and cellular mitochondria damage, and the in vitro and in vivo results demonstrate high cytotoxicity and tumor inhibition on murine refractory breast cancer. This work realizes improvement in cancer therapy using piezoelectric heterostructures with piezotronic effects.