Specific Chemiluminescence Imaging and Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy of Bacterial Infections by Hemin‐Modified Carbon Dots

Abstract Antibacterial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is a promising antibiotics‐alternative strategy for bacterial infectious diseases, which features broad‐spectrum antibacterial activity with a low risk of inducing bacterial resistance. However, clinical applications of aPDT are still hindered by the hydrophobicity‐caused inadequate photodynamic activity of conventional photosensitizers and the hypoxic microenvironment of bacterial infections. To address these problems, herein, a promising strategy is developed to achieve specific chemiluminescence (CL) imaging and enhanced PDT of bacterial infections using hemin‐modified carbon dots (H‐CDs). The H‐CDs can be facilely prepared and exhibit favorable water solubility, augmented photodynamic activity, and unique peroxidase‐mimicking capacity. Compared with the free CDs, the photodynamic efficacy of H‐CDs is significantly augmented due to the increased electron–hole separation efficiency. Moreover, the peroxidase catalytic performance of H‐CDs enables not only infection identification via bacterial infection microenvironment‐responsive CL imaging but also oxygen self‐supplied aPDT with hypoxia‐relief‐enhanced bacteria inactivation effects. Finally, the enhanced aPDT efficiencies of H‐CDs are validated in both in vivo abscess and infected wound models. This work may provide an effective antibacterial platform for the selective imaging‐guided treatment of bacterial infections.