Photoacoustic effect of near-infrared absorbing fullerene derivatives with click moieties

Abstract

Near-infrared (NIR) dyes have been widely employed as contrast agents for enhancing the efficiency of photoacoustic (PA) imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT) treatment. Herein, the PA and photothermal (PT) effect of a class of fullerene derivatives were characterized, detailedly. F4-TCNQ could effectively result in red shift of peaks of PA intensity. The NIR dyes with phenyl group have the higher PA strength than those with thienyl group. To prove that the dyes were highly desirable in biochemistry, the photodynamic therapy (PDT) effect of C2a was also studied. The high PA intensity and good yield of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of fullerene derivatives showed that the dyes had good potential for broad imaging applications. Finally, in order to apply the hydrophobic dyes into biomedical application, the dyes (C2a molecules) were embedded into a hydrophobic phospholipid bilayer of liposome (C2a⊂L), which could be uptaken by cells with high compatibility and high stability for cellular PA imaging. The study guides the future design of NIR dyes for PA or PTT materials with high intensities and displays promising applications.