A thermo-responsive adsorbent-heater-thermometer nanomaterial for controlled drug release: (ZIF-8,EuTb)@AuNP core-shell.

An adsorbent-heater-thermometer nanomaterial, (ZIF-8,EuTb)@AuNP, based on ZIF-8 (adsorbent), containing Eu and/or Tb ions (thermometer) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs, heater) was designed, synthetized, characterized, and applied to controlled drug release. These composite materials were characterized as core-shell nanocrystals with the AuNPs being the core, around which the crystalline ZIF-8 has grown (shell) and onto which the lanthanide ions have been incorporated or chemosorbed. This shell of ZIF-8 acts as adsorbent of the drugs, the AuNPs act as heaters, while the luminescence intensities of the ligand and the lanthanide ions are used for temperature monitoring.