Rich vacancies of semiconductor nanomaterials (NMs) give rise to great enhancement of their physical and chemical properties such as magnetic, catalytic, optical, etc. These NMs possessing extensive applications could inevitably enter into the environment and increase the toxic effects on organisms, so it is imperative to investigate the cytotoxicity of NMs with different types of vacancies. Here, one-dimensional cobalt selenide (CoSe₂) NMs with different vacancies were synthesized through the same precursor while calcined at different temperatures (P-CoSe₂ which calcined at 200 °C and N-CoSe₂ which calcined at 230 °C). According to the positron annihilation spectrum, the V_SeSe vacancy associate in P-CoSe₂ was endowed with two positive charges, while the V_CoCoCoSeSe vacancy associate in N-CoSe₂ possessed four negative charges. Cell viability assays revealed that N-CoSe₂ had higher toxicity to macrophages than P-CoSe₂, which was attributed to higher levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species induced by N-CoSe₂. Further investigation showed that N-CoSe₂ had higher affinity to the mitochondrion-targeting peptide, leading to its preferential distribution in the mitochondria and consequent induction of mitochondrial superoxide production. In contrast, P-CoSe₂ exhibited higher affinity to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-targeting peptide, facilitating its preferential distribution in the ER and the nuclei and causing higher damage to both organelles as compared to N-CoSe₂. These results demonstrated that type of surface vacancies significantly affected biodistribution of NMs in subcellular organelles, which contributed to differential biological behaviors of the NMs.

半导体纳米材料（NMs）的大量空位大大提高了它们的物理和化学特性，例如磁性，催化，光学等。这些具有广泛应用的NMs不可避免地会进入环境并增加对生物体的毒性作用，因此必须调查不同类型空位的NMs的细胞毒性。在此，通过相同的前体在不同温度下煅烧（P-CoSe ₂在200°C下煅烧，N-CoSe ₂在230°C下煅烧）时，通过相同的前体合成了具有不同空位的一维硒化钴（CoSe ₂）NMs 。根据正电子_an没光谱，P-CoSe _2中的V _SeSe空位缔合被赋予两个正电荷，而N-CoSe _2中的V _CoCoCoSeSe空缺关联具有四个负电荷。细胞活力测定显示，N-CoSe ₂对巨噬细胞的毒性比P-CoSe _2高，这归因于N-CoSe ₂诱导的细胞内活性氧含量较高。进一步的研究表明，N-CoSe ₂对线粒体靶向肽具有更高的亲和力，从而导致其在线粒体中的优先分布，从而诱导了线粒体超氧化物的产生。相反，P-CoSe ₂与N-CoSe ₂相比，对内质网（ER）靶向肽具有更高的亲和力，有利于其在ER和细胞核中的优先分布，并对两个细胞器造成更高的损害。这些结果表明，表面空位的类型显着影响亚细胞在细胞器中NM的生物分布，这有助于NM的不同生物学行为。