Enhanced photothermal effect of functionalized HMPDA@AuNPs microcapsules for near-infrared theranostic treatment of tumor

Near-infrared photothermal nanomaterial is expected to synergize chemotherapy and photothermal therapy, which provided a higher tumor therapeutic effect than single therapy. In this article, the hollow mesoporous polydopamine (HMPDA) microcapsules modified with gold (Au) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared as nanodrug carriers using silica as the templates. The adsorption properties of HMPDA@AuNPs microcapsules for methylene blue (MB) dyes were studied, as well as the load and release properties for adriamycin hydrochloride (DOX) and in vitro cytotoxicity. Finally, the photothermal properties of the above microcapsules were investigated. The results showed that the HMPDA@AuNPs microcapsules had high photothermal conversion efficiency, the average DOX capacity of the carriers was 334.78 mg/g within 24 h, and the release rate was about 44.8% under photothermal conditions within 8 h. The preparation process of HMPDA@AuNPs microcapsules was simple and mild, with excellent drug loading capacity, pH-targeted release performance, good photothermal property and biocompatibility. The combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy made it valuable as a drug carrier in the application of tumor diagnosis and treatment.