Microfluidic Assembly of NIR‐II AIE Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photothermal Ablation of Breast Tumors
Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens with strong near-infrared absorption and excellent photostability are emerging as powerful photothermal agents; however, achieving nanoscale formulations with controlled size, high stability, and near-infrared-II (NIR-II) emission remains challenging. Here, we report an NIR-II emissive AIE small molecule that can be rapidly assembled into monodisperse nanoparticles (NDA-MEPA NPs, ∼40 nm) using a microfluidic strategy that ensures reproducible control over particle size and uniformity. Surface encapsulation with DSPE-PEG2K confers excellent colloidal stability, biocompatibility, and enhanced tumor accumulation. The resulting NDA-MEPA NPs exhibit efficient photothermal conversion under 808 nm irradiation, along with dose- and time-dependent cellular uptake, and induce robust photothermal cytotoxicity in vitro. In vivo evaluations demonstrated that NDA-MEPA NPs enable high-contrast NIR-II fluorescence imaging and effective photothermal tumor ablation with minimal systemic toxicity. This work establishes a programmable microfluidic approach for constructing NIR-II AIE nanomaterials and highlights a biocompatible photothermal platform with strong potential for translational cancer therapy.
Authors
- G S Liu
- Ruihua Dong
- Zijuan Meng
- Xiaohua Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3269-3063)
- Zheng Zhao
- Ben Zhong Tang
- Zhen Zhang
- Fulong Ma
Institutions
- Qingdao University (CN)
- Xiamen University (CN)
- Theranostics (New Zealand) (NZ)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CN)
- Xiamen University of Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Healthcare Materials
- Published
- 2026-05-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.71201
- Primary Topic
- Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province
- National Key Research and Development Program of China