Scintillator-based radiocatalytic superoxide radical production for long-term tumor DNA damage

Photocatalytic materials absorb photons ranging from the ultraviolet to near-infrared region to initiate photocatalytic reactions and have broad application prospects in various fields. However, high-energy ionizing radiations are rarely involved in photocatalytic research. In this study, we proposed a high-energy radiation-based photocatalysis method, namely "radiocatalysis", and prepared a TiO₂-coated lanthanide pyrosilicate scintillator (LnPS@TiO₂) as the radiocatalytic material. The lanthanide pyrosilicate post-radiation scintillators can efficiently convert radiation energy into ultraviolet energy, which can be resonantly transferred to TiO₂ to selectively generate high-yield superoxide radicals (). Compared with traditional radiotherapy, this radiocatalytic process can significantly kill cancer cells while achieving long-term DNA damage by inhibiting the DNA self-repair process. Our research expands the energy response range of photocatalysis and is expected to extend radiocatalysis to the tumor treatment field.