Polyhydroxy Fullerene‐loaded ZIF‐8 Nanocomposites for Better Photodynamic Therapy

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been received broad attentions as a cancer treatment, and fullerenes are potential photosensitizer owing to their unique electronic structures. However, fullerenes show insolubility in water for the special structure, which will induce aggregation to hinder the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, the size of fullerenes is not conducive to reach the tumors through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Herein, a polyhydroxy fullerene‐loaded metal‐organic framework is designed and prepared to address the mentioned problems encountering with fullerenes as photosensitizers. The nanocomposite PHF@ZIF‐8, which is synthesized by a simple one‐pot method, displays great biocompatibility and outstanding photodynamic performance under the 448 nm laser irradiation. This work provides strong evidence for PHF@ZIF‐8 as a promising photosensitizer candidate.