Photothermal response of near-infrared-absorbing NanoGUMBOS

The photothermal properties of several near-infrared-absorbing nanoparticles derived from group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS) and composed of cationic dyes coupled with biocompatible anions are evaluated. These nanoparticles were synthesized using a reprecipitation method performed at various pH values: 2.0, 5.0, 7.0, 9.0, and 11.0. The cations for the nanoparticles derived from GUMBOS (nanoGUMBOS), [1048] and [1061], have absorbance maxima at wavelengths overlapping with human soft tissue absorbance minima. Near-infrared-absorbing nanoGUMBOS excited with a 1064 nm continuous laser led to heat generation, with an average temperature increase of 20.4 ± 2.7 °C. Although the [1061][Deoxycholate] nanoGUMBOS generated the highest temperature increase (23.7 ± 2.4 °C), it was the least photothermally efficient compound (13.0%) due to its relatively large energy band gap of 0.892 eV. The more photothermally efficient compound [1048][Ascorbate] (64.4%) had a smaller energy band gap of 0.861 eV and provided an average photothermal temperature increase of 21.0 ± 2.1 °C.