Owing to multiple physicochemical properties, the combination of hybrid elemental compositions of nanoparticles can be widely utilized for a variety of applications. To combine pristine tellurium nanorods, which act as a sacrificing template, with another element, iridium-tellurium nanorods (IrTeNRs) were synthesized via the galvanic replacement technique. Owing to the coexistence of iridium and tellurium, IrTeNRs exhibited unique properties, such as peroxidase-like activity and photoconversion. Additionally, the IrTeNRs demonstrated exceptional colloidal stability in complete media. Based on these properties, the IrTeNRs were applied to in vitro and in vivo cancer therapy, allowing for the possibility of multiple therapeutic methodologies. The enzymatic therapy was enabled by the peroxidase-like activity that generated reactive oxygen species, and the photoconversion under 473, 660 and 808 nm laser irradiation induced cancer cell apoptosis via photothermal and photodynamic therapy.
Keywords: cancer therapy; galvanic replacement; iridium–tellurium nanorods; nanozymes; photoconversion.