Metal-Free Carbon Co-Catalysts for Up-Conversion Photo-Induced Catalytic Cancer Therapy.

Near-infrared (NIR)-responsive metal-free carbon co-catalysts that convert glucose into HO to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) are developed from phosphorus-doped carbon nitride (P-CN) and graphene quantum dots (GQD) composites, for enhanced photocatalytic cancer therapy by light exposure in the targeted tumor microenvironment. Upon irradiation, the NIR light is converted by GQD with up-conversion function into visible light to excite P-CN for photocatalytic conversion of glucose into HO, which subsequently decomposes into ROS. ROS thus generated exhibits an excellent anticancer efficacy for efficient cancer therapy with minimal side effects, as evidenced by both in vitro and in vivo studies. This study demonstrates, for the first time, a cancer therapeutic of GQD/P-CN composite that utilizes a two-step cascade effect using initially NIR-triggered GQD nanoparticles to activate P-CN to photocatalytically generate ROS for effective and targeted cancer therapy.