Synthesis of novel nanosized fluorinated carbon fiber with high NIR absorption and its application in cancer chemo-photothermal therapy

Although fluorinated carbon fiber (FC) inherits many excellent properties of carbon materials, and holds great promise in many fields. However, chemical modification and application of FC in biomedicine have been rarely studied, mostly ascribed to large-sized needle-like structure, and inert C-F bonds with strong hydrophobicity. Herein, fluorinated carbon fiber oxide (FCO) enriched with oxygen groups with an average size of 90 nm is prepared, and this then allows us for the first time to modify FCO with biomolecule of hyaluronic acid, rendering FCO special targeting and good dispersibility in various media. Effective control over structure and surface makes FCO exhibit negligible toxicity and possess high near infrared absorption for photothermal therapy (PTT). Moreover, FCO also has high drug load capacity (1.05 mg/mg), and cell experiments confirm better therapeutic effect of the nanocarrier than single PTT or chemotherapy, making it practically valuable for cancer chemo-photothermal therapy. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.