Spherical g-C3N4@PDA nanocarrier for synergistic chemo-photothermal tumor therapy

In this paper, by wrapping the near-infrared (NIR) response polydopamine (PDA) as a nanocoating on the surface of spherical nano graphitic phase carbon nitride (g-C3N4), a multifunctional g-C3N4/PDA (CNP) nanocarrier platform was prepared. The pi-conjugation system in PDA and the electronegative hydroxyl groups on the surface of CNP promote the creation of abundant active sites, which had a high drug loading rate of about 98.5 % for the electropositive GA. Due to the strong NIR reaction of CNP, the release of GA from CNP/GA can be greatly accelerated by the rising temperature, bonding disruption and charge transfer. Moreover, the photo-generated electron-hole pairs could be excited by the NIR effect of CNP, which promotes the production of ROS (& sdot;OH, & sdot;O2- and 1O2) to induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells. Thus, the present spherical CNP nanocarrier with a combination of enzyme-mimic activity and NIR-responsive properties has a great potential for chemo-photothermal synergistic tumor therapy.