General Introduction and Background of Photofunctional Nanomaterials in Biomedical Applications

Photofunctional nanomaterials have shown great potential in biomedical applications due to their unique optical properties and size effects. This chapter focuses on "General Introduction and Background of Photofunctional Nanomaterials in Biomedical Applications." First, a brief introduction to nanomaterials is given, describing their basic properties and their importance in various fields. Secondly, the basic concepts and properties of photofunctional nanomaterials and their physicochemical effects under light conditions, such as photothermal effect, photoluminescence, photovoltaic effect, and photochemical effect, are presented. Next, an overview of nanobiomedicine is presented, highlighting the potential of photofunctional nanomaterials for biomedical applications. Then, different types of photofunctional nanomaterials, including fluorescent, photothermal, photodynamic, photoelectrochemical and photoacoustic nanomaterials, are discussed in a detailed classification and their applications in the fields of bioimaging, antimicrobial, oncological diagnosis and treatment, and biodetection and sensing are discussed. Finally, the current research results are summarized and the future development of photofunctional nanomaterials in the biomedical field is envisaged.