Photothermal and biodegradable polyaniline/porous silicon hybrid nanocomposites as drug carriers for combined chemo-photothermal therapy of cancer

To develop photothermal and biodegradable nanocarriers for combined chemo-photothermal therapy of cancer, polyaniline/porous silicon hybrid nanocomposites had been successfully fabricated via surface initiated polymerization of aniline onto porous silicon nanoparticles in our experiments. As-prepared polyaniline/porous silicon nanocomposites could be well dispersed in aqueous solution without any extra hydrophilic surface coatings, and showed a robust photothermal effect under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Especially, after an intravenous injection into mice, these biodegradable porous silicon-based nanocomposites as non-toxic agents could be completely cleared in body. Moreover, these polyaniline/porous silicon nanocomposites as drug carriers also exhibited an efficient loading and dual pH/NIR light-triggered release of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX, a model anticancer drug). Most importantly, assisted with NIR laser irradiation, polyaniline/PSiNPs nanocomposites with loading DOX showed a remarkable synergistic anticancer effect combining chemotherapy with photothermal therapy, whether in vitro or in vivo. Therefore, based on biodegradable PSiNPs-based nanocomposites, this combination approach of chemo-photothermal therapy would have enormous potential on clinical cancer treatments in the future. Considering the non-biodegradable nature and potential long-term toxicity concerns of photothermal nanoagents, it is of great interest and importance to develop biodegradable and photothermal nanoparticles with an excellent biocompatibility for their future clinical applications. In our experiments, we fabricated porous silicon-based hybrid nanocomposites via surface initiated polymerization of aniline, which showed an excellent photothermal effect, aqueous dispersibility, biodegradability and biocompatibility. Furthermore, after an efficient loading of DOX molecules, polyaniline/porous silicon nanocomposites exhibited the remarkable synergistic anticancer effect, whether in vitro and in vivo.