Noncovalent Ruthenium(II) Complexes–Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composites for Bimodal Photothermal and Photodynamic Therapy with Near-Infrared Irradiation

To enhance the efficacy and optimize the treatment of cancers, the integration of multimodal treatment strategies leading to synergistic effects is a promising approach. The coassembly of multifunctional agents for systematic therapies has received considerable interest in cancer treatment. Herein, Ru(II) complex-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (Ru@SWCNTs) are developed as nanotemplates for bimodal photothermal and two-photon photodynamic therapy (PTT-TPPDT). SWCNTs have the ability to load a great amount of Ru(II) complexes (Ru1 or Ru2) via noncovalent π–π interactions. The loaded Ru(II) complexes are efficiently released by the photothermal effect of irradiation from an 808 nm diode laser (0.25 W/cm2). The released Ru(II) complexes produce singlet oxygen species (1O2) upon two-photon laser irradiation (808 nm, 0.25 W/cm2) and can be used as a two-photon photodynamic therapy (TPPDT) agent. Based on the combination of photothermal therapy and two-photon photodynamic therapy, Ru@SWCNTs have g...