Ultrasound-assisted water oxidation: unveiling the role of piezoelectric metal-oxide sonocatalysts for cancer treatment

Ultrasound radiation has been widely used in biomedical application for both diagnosis and therapy. Metal oxides nanoparticles (NPs), like ZnO or TiO₂ NPs, have been widely demonstrated to act as excellent sonocatalysts and significantly enhance cavitation at their surface, making them optimal for sonodynamic cancer therapy. These NPs often possess semiconductive and piezoelectric properties that contribute to the complex phenomena occurring at the water-oxide interface during sonostimulation. Despite the great potential in applied sonocatalysis and water splitting, the complex mechanism that governs the phenomenon is still a research subject. This work investigates the role of piezoelectric ZnO micro- and nano-particles in ultrasound-assisted water oxidation. Three metal oxides presenting fundamental electronic and mechanical differences are evaluated in terms of ultrasound-triggered reactive oxygen species generation in aqueous media: electromechanically inert SiO₂ NPs, semiconducting TiO₂ NPs, piezoelectric and semiconducting ZnO micro- and nanoparticles with different surface areas and sizes. The presence of silver ions in the aqueous solution was further considered to impart a potential electron scavenging effects and better evaluate the oxygen generation performances of the different structures. Following sonoirradiation, the particles are optically and chemically analyzed to study the effect of sonostimulation at their surface. The production of gaseous molecular oxygen is measured, revealing the potential of piezoelectric particles to generate oxygen under hypoxic conditions typical of some cancer environments. Finally, the best candidates, i.e. ZnO nano and micro particles, were tested on osteosarcoma and glioblastoma cell lines to demonstrate their potential for cancer treatment.