Multifunctional zinc phthalocyanine-phenolic resin (ZnPc-PFR)@MSN nanocomposite based fluorescent imaging, photothermal therapy, and pH-sensitive drug release

Because of the good fluorescence of zinc phthalocyanine-phenolic resin (ZnPc-PFR) photosensitizer and large specific surface area of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), a highly efficient nano-drug carrier system, denoted as ZnPc-PFR@MSN, was constructed for photothermal therapy (PTT) and pH-sensitive drug delivery. The facile hydrothermal reaction was used to synthesize ZnPc-PFR nanoparticles in one-step. After loading the as-synthesized ZnPc-PFR nanoparticles into MSNs, and a good high drug-loading rate (143.7 mg g −1 ) to the anticancer drug of Adriamycin (DOX) could be obtained. Thus, a novel nanosphere with the merits of good fluorescence, high drug-loading rate (143.7 mg g −1 ), better sustained-release properties, and photothermal properties (reached 43.23°C within 260 s) was prepared. The as-synthesized multifunctional composites make it a good candidate in fluorescence imaging, PTT, and drug delivery.