Temperature‐Correlated Afterglow of a Semiconducting Polymer Nanococktail for Imaging‐Guided Photothermal Therapy

Abstract Nanoparticles for photothermal therapy: Real‐time temperature monitoring is critical to reduce the nonspecific damage during photothermal therapy (PTT); however, PTT agents that can emit temperature‐related signals are rare and limited to few inorganic nanoparticles. We herein synthesize a semiconducting polymer nanococktail (SPN CT ) that can not only convert photo‐energy to heat but also emit temperature‐correlated luminescence after cessation of light excitation. Such an afterglow luminescence of the SPN CT detects tumors more sensitively than fluorescence as a result of the elimination of tissue autofluorescence, while its temperature‐dependent nature allows tumor temperature to be optically monitored under near‐infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Thus, SPN CT represents the first organic optical nanosystem that enables optical‐imaging guided PTT without real‐time light excitation.