A facile strategy to fabricate gold nanorod@polyacrylic acid/calcium phosphate (AuNR@PAA/CaP) yolk-shell nanoparticles (NPs) composed with a PAA/CaP shell and an AuNR yolk is reported. The as-obtained AuNR@PAA/CaP yolk-shell NPs possess ultrahigh doxorubicin (DOX) loading capability (1 mg DOX/mg NPs), superior photothermal conversion property (26%) and pH/near-infrared (NIR) dual-responsive drug delivery performance. The released DOX continuously increased due to the damage of the CaP shell at low pH values. When the DOX-loaded AuNR@PAA/CaP yolk-shell NPs were exposed to NIR irradiation, a burst-like drug release occurs owing to the heat produced by the AuNRs. Furthermore, AuNR@PAA/CaP yolk-shell NPs are successfully employed for synergic dual-mode X-ray computed tomography (CT)/photoacoustic (PA) imaging and chemo-photothermal cancer therapy. Therefore, this work brings new insights for the synthesis of multifunctional nanomaterials and extends theranostic applications.

报道了一种简单的制备金纳米棒@聚丙烯酸/磷酸钙（AuNR@PAA/CaP）蛋黄壳纳米粒子（NPs）的策略，该纳米棒由PAA/CaP壳和AuNR蛋黄组成。所获得的 AuNR@PAA/CaP 蛋黄壳纳米粒子具有超高的阿霉素 (DOX) 负载能力 (1 mg DOX/mg NPs)、优异的光热转换性能 (26%) 和 pH/近红外 (NIR) 双重响应药物输送性能。由于CaP壳在低pH值下受到破坏，释放的DOX不断增加。当负载 DOX 的 AuNR@PAA/CaP 蛋黄壳纳米粒子暴露于近红外辐射时，由于 AuNR 产生的热量，会发生爆发式药物释放。此外，AuNR@PAA/CaP 蛋黄壳纳米粒子已成功用于协同双模式 X 射线计算机断层扫描 (CT)/光声 (PA) 成像和化学光热癌症治疗。因此，这项工作为多功能纳米材料的合成带来了新的见解，并扩展了治疗诊断应用。