One‐pot synthesis of ICG&Cur@ZIF‐8 nanocomposites with pH‐controlled drug delivery and good photothermal performance

Abstract Combination therapy has shown great potential for effective cancer treatment. In this work, anticancer drug curcumin (Cur) and photothermal agent indocyanine green (ICG) have been encapsulated into the pH‐responsive ZIF‐8 simultaneously to obtain ICG&Cur@ZIF‐8 through one‐pot synthesis method. The drug loading capacity was estimated as 9.6 and 12.3 wt% for Cur and ICG, respectively. As expected, ICG&Cur@ZIF‐8 exhibited the pH‐responsive ICG and Cur delivery, which was ascribed to the decomposition of ZIF‐8 in acidic environment. Moreover, ICG&Cur@ZIF‐8 also showed the high photothermal performance due to the efficient encapsulation of ICG. The co‐delivery of two therapeutic agents may bring more opportunities for biomedical application.