Mei Yijun, Cao Yuanyuan, Wang Wei
State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing, 211198, P. R. China.
NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Cosmetics, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing, 211198, P. R. China.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2025 Mar;14(6):e2403576. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202403576. Epub 2025 Jan 10.
Violet phosphorus (VP) is a phosphorus allotrope first discovered by Hittorf in 1865, which has aroused more attention in the biomedical field in recent years attributed to its gradually discovered unique properties. VP can be further categorized into bulk VP, VP nanosheets (VPNs), and VP quantum dots (VPQDs), and chemical vapor transport (CVT), liquid-phase/mechanical/laser exfoliation, and solvothermal synthesis are the common preparation approaches of bulk VP, VPNs, and VPQDs, respectively. Compared with another phosphorus allotrope (black phosphorus, BP) that is once highly regarded in biomedical applications, VP nanomaterial (namely VPNs and VPQDs) not only exhibits tunable bandgap, moderate on/off current ratio, and good biodegradability, but shows enhanced stability and biosafety as well, allowing it to be a promising candidate for a variety of biomedical applications like antibacterial therapy, anticancer therapy, and biosensing and disease diagnosis. In this review, the classification and the relevant synthesis routes of VP are initially summarized, and the unique properties of VP nanomaterial momentous to its biomedical applications are subsequently expounded. The latest research advances of this emerging nanomaterial in the biomedical field are then introduced in detail, and both the existing challenges and future prospects are also discussed.
紫磷（VP）是一种磷的同素异形体，于1865年由希托夫首次发现，近年来因其逐渐被发现的独特性质而在生物医学领域引起了更多关注。VP可进一步分为块状VP、VP纳米片（VPNs）和VP量子点（VPQDs），化学气相传输（CVT）、液相/机械/激光剥离以及溶剂热合成分别是块状VP、VPNs和VPQDs的常见制备方法。与另一种曾在生物医学应用中备受关注的磷同素异形体（黑磷，BP）相比，VP纳米材料（即VPNs和VPQDs）不仅具有可调谐的带隙、适中的开/关电流比和良好的生物降解性，还表现出增强的稳定性和生物安全性，使其成为抗菌治疗、抗癌治疗以及生物传感和疾病诊断等多种生物医学应用的有前景的候选材料。在这篇综述中，首先总结了VP的分类和相关合成路线，随后阐述了对其生物医学应用至关重要的VP纳米材料的独特性质。接着详细介绍了这种新兴纳米材料在生物医学领域的最新研究进展，并讨论了现存的挑战和未来前景。
