Perylene diimide oligomer nanoparticles with ultrahigh photothermal conversion efficiency for cancer theranostics

• Main Authors: Gong, Qiuyu, Xing, Jie, Huang, Yinjuan, Wu, Aiguo, Yu, Jing, Zhang, Qichun
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science and Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Science::Chemistry::Biochemistry; Colloids; Rodent Models
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/148637
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Developing one agent that has reasonable stability and ultrahigh photothermal conversion efficiency (PTCE) for near-infrared (NIR) photothermal cancer treatment remains a great challenge, but is highly desirable. In this research, we developed a perylene diimide (PDI)-based oligomer (OPDI) through coupling monomeric PDI derivatives together. OPDI exhibited slightly red-shifted absorption at NIR region compared with monomeric PDI. More importantly, the self-assembled OPDI nanoparticles not only exhibited high stability and preferable biocompatibility, but also possessed an ultrahigh PTCE (up to 79.8%, higher than many other photothermal agents reported before). This OPDI photothermal agent has been demonstrated to exhibit excellent therapeutic effects. Our research provides a guide for the exploitation of photothermal agents with ultrahigh PTCE.