Oxygen self-enriched single-component "black carbon nitride" for near-infrared phototheranostics

• Published in: Nanoscale Vol. 12; no. 42; pp. 21812 - 2182
• Main Authors: Huang, Yuxin, Tian, Yanan, Shu, Jie, Wang, Fu, Wei, Xunbin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 05.11.2020
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon nitride; Copolymerization; Hypoxia; In vivo methods and tests; Infrared imaging; Nanoparticles; Nitriles; Oxygen; Oxygen enrichment; Photochemotherapy; Photodynamic therapy; Theranostic Nanomedicine; Thermal imaging; Tumors
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/d0nr05871h

Single component agent-based near-infrared phototheranostics has captivated researchers in cancer treatment over recent decades. However, the current single-component agents rarely alleviate the hypoxic microenvironment in tumor cells, which severely limits the development of photodynamic therapy. Here, we report a new phototheranostic agent, single-component black graphite carbon nitride nanoparticles (named CN-B NPs), synthesized through thermal copolymerization. Compared with unmodified graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ), the absorption of CN-B NPs in the near-infrared region was enhanced. Through in vitro and in vivo studies, we demonstrated that CN-B NPs can be used as a near-infrared phototheranostic agent in both normoxia and hypoxia, simultaneously allowing infrared thermal/photoacoustic imaging and photodynamic/photothermal co-therapy, thereby resulting in remarkable inhibition of tumor growth. This approach could provide a new method to achieve multimodal phototheranostics using a single-component material. Single component agent-based near-infrared phototheranostics has captivated researchers in cancer treatment over recent decades.