Affiliation:
1. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Schulich School of Engineering University of Calgary Alberta T2N 1N4 Canada
2. Ningbo Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging Probe Materials and Technology Zhejiang International Cooperation Base of Biomedical Materials Technology and Application Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices Ningbo Cixi Institute of Biomedical Engineering Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Materials Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo 315201 China
3. Institute of Smart Biomedical Materials School of Materials Science and Engineering Zhejiang Sci‐Tech University Hangzhou 310018 China
Abstract
AbstractCancer photothermal therapy leverages the capability of photothermal agents to convert light to heat for cancer cell ablation and necrosis. However, most conventional photothermal agents (Au, CuS, Pd, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, and indocyanine green dye) either face scalability challenges or photobleached upon prolonged irradiation which jeopardizes practical applications. Here, asphaltenes‐derived carbon dots (ACDs, 5 nm) are rationally engineered as a low‐cost and photostable photothermal agent with negligible in vivo cytotoxicity. The abundant water‐solvating functional groups on the ACDs surface endows them with excellent water re‐dispersibility that outperforms those of most commercial nanomaterials. Photothermal therapeutic property of the ACDs is mechanistically described by non‐radiative transitions of excited electrons at 808 nm via internal conversions and vibrational relaxations. Consequently, the ACDs offer cancer photothermal therapy in mice within 15 days post‐exposure to one‐time near infrared irradiation. This pioneering study showcases the first utilization of asphaltenes‐based materials for cancer therapy and is expected to arouse further utilization of such materials in various cancer theranostics.