Conjugated-Polymer-Based Nanomaterials for Photothermal Therapy

In the past few decades, the development of excellent materials for the treatment of disease via noninvasive photothermal therapy has received increasing attention. Among a number of kinds of nanomaterials, conjugated-polymer-based nanomaterials, which possess intense absorbance in the near-infrared region, could employed as useful photothermal agents for various disease treatments, such as cancer, bacterial infection therapy, and neurodegenerative disease. Moreover, conjugated-polymer-based nanomaterials can be easily combined with other imaging agents and drugs to construct multifunctional nanomaterials for cascading stimuli-responsiveness with precise medical treatment and enhanced therapy efficacy. Here, we mainly put attention on the recent advances of conjugated-polymer-based nanoparticles for photothermal therapy. First, we briefly summarized the mechanism of photothermal conversion of conjugated polymers and the relevant modified methods to improve their photothermal conversion efficiency. Second, we discussed the application of conjugated polymers in photothermal therapy as well as the strategies for developing conjugated-polymer-based nanomaterials with a targeted ability and an enhanced accumulation effect on the tumor region for cancer therapy. Moreover, further challenges and perspectives were also discussed for designing efficient conjugated-polymer-based nanosystems for photothermally assisted therapies.