Uniform monodispersed nitrogen-doped
carbon spheres have been emerging as
an exciting platform for multipurpose medical applications like photothermal
therapy and photoacoustic imaging and as carriers for aromatic anticancer
drugs. However, synthesis of uniform N-doped mesoporous carbon of
size less than 100 nm with reasonable photothermal and photodynamic
activities is a challenging task. In this connection, the present
paper reports synthesis of nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon spheres
(NMCSs) from five different copolymers of pyrrole and substituted
aniline (-H, o-NH2, m-NH2, p-NH2, and m-NO2) using a soft template approach. It has been found
that NMCSs synthesized from poly(pyrrole-co-m-nitroaniline)
show uniform mesoporous particles of size 80 nm, a photothermal conversion
efficiency η of 52.7%, and an average 1O2 quantum yield of 20% under exposure of a 980 nm NIR laser. With
a high η of 52%, a multifunctional nanodrug has been formulated
by loading 5-Fu in NMCS. The overall drug-loaded NMC was encapsulated
by thermosensitive DSPE-PEG to improve translocation of the particle
in the cell and thermosensitive drug release. A reliable release of
anticancer drug 5-Fu (78%) has been achieved in 50 h in lysosomal
conditions under 980 nm laser exposure. This NMC-5-Fu-DSPE-PEG nanodrug
produces reactive oxygen species and enhances the therapeutic effect
in comparison with free drug under an NIR laser as verified in B16F0
melanoma cells.