Polypyrroles have shown great potential in photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy owing to its excellent photothermal conversion capabilities. However, the synthesis of polypyrrole-based nano-assemblies which have colloidal stability in biological buffers requires a number of steps, including the polymerization of pyrrole monomers, self-assembly of polypyrrole-based copolymers, and even an additional step to increase the biocompatibility of the nano-assemblies. Herein, a “polymerization/assembly” two-in-one synthesis is proposed for the first time to achieve the one-step synthesis of a new family of polypyrrole-based nano-assemblies, dextran-polypyrrole nano-assemblies (Dex-PPy NAs), under ambient conditions and in aqueous media. In addition, the approach employs tetravalent cerium ions as initiators which can initiate the polymerization of pyrrole monomers through the initiation of free radicals from dextran molecular chains. The resultant Dex-PPy NAs have a photothermal conversion efficiency reaching as high as 41 % and an excellent photostability. More importantly, the NAs with controllable nanoscale dimensions display no signs of cytotoxicity in both in vitro and in vivo studies owing to their biocompatible dextran “shell”. An in vivo study further confirmed that the Dex-PPy NAs have excellent real-time photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy capabilities for malignant tumors. Therefore, this study represents an important step towards the scalable synthesis of polypyrrole-based nano-assemblies with photothermal/photoacoustic dual capabilities and enhanced biocompatibility.

聚吡咯由于其出色的光热转化能力，在光声成像和光热疗法中显示出巨大的潜力。然而，在生物缓冲液中具有胶体稳定性的基于聚吡咯的纳米组装体的合成需要许多步骤，包括吡咯单体的聚合，基于聚吡咯的共聚物的自组装，甚至是增加其生物相容性的附加步骤。纳米组件。本文中，首次提出了“聚合/组装”二合一合成方法，以实现新的聚吡咯基纳米组件家族，即葡聚糖-聚吡咯纳米组件（Dex-PPy NAs）的一步合成。 ），环境条件和水性介质中。此外，该方法采用四价铈离子作为引发剂，可通过引发葡聚糖分子链中的自由基来引发吡咯单体的聚合。所得的Dex-PPy NAs具有高达41％的光热转换效率和出色的光稳定性。更重要的是，具有可控制纳米级尺寸的NAs均未显示出细胞毒性迹象由于它们具有生物相容性葡聚糖“壳”，因此可以进行体外和体内研究。的体内研究进一步证实了DEX-聚吡咯的NA有恶性肿瘤优良实时光声成像和光热治疗的能力。因此，这项研究代表了迈向具有光热/光声双重功能和增强的生物相容性的聚吡咯基纳米组件可扩展合成的重要一步。