Fig 1

Epitaxial growth of Ag (a, b), Pt (c–e), Fe3O4 (f–j) on Au. (a) TEM image of the growth of a Ag-shell on a AuNR; (b) Post-mortem EDXS line scan across the core-shell structure; TEM image (c), dark-field STEM image (d), and EDXS elemental mapping image (e) of Pt@AuNPs, respectively; (f) HAADF-STEM image of a typical Au-Fe3O4 nanocrystal; (g) The overlaid fast FFT patterns of Au and Fe3O4 lobes; (h–j) EDXS elemental mapping of a single Au-Fe3O4 nanocrystal. (a, b) Adapted with permission from Ref. 39. Copyright 2019 American Chemical Society. (c–e) Adapted with permission from Ref. 40. Copyright 2018 American Chemical Society. (f–j) Adapted with permission from Ref. 43. Copyright 2019 American Chemical Society. "

Fig 2

Preparation of Au-MnO2 heterogeneous nanomaterials using ligand/surfactant as linkers. (a–j) Characterizations of the UFO-shaped AMNS-SPs. (a) Large-scale SEM, (b) large-scale TEM, (c) HRTEM and (d, e) AFM images (the diameter of the decorated MnO2 nanosheets is 230 nm). Small-scale TEM images of the AMNS-SPs decorated with MnO2 nanosheets of different diameters: (f) 0, (g) 108, (h) 151, and (i) 230 nm. (j) Extinction spectra of the AMNS-SPs decorated with MnO2 nanosheets of different diameters, and the curves 1, 2, 3, and 4 correspond to (f), (g), (h), and (i), respectively. (k-o) Characterizations of the TAMNS-SPs. (k) TEM, (l, m) AFM (the thickness and diameter of the decorated MnO2 nanosheets are 12 and 180 nm, respectively). Small-scale TEM images of the TAMNS-SPs decorated with MnO2 nanosheets of different diameters: (n) 99, (o) 180 nm. Adapted with permission from Ref. 63. Copyright 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA."

Fig 3

Schematic diagram illustrating the synthesis of AuNR@FexO nanocomposites based on SiO2 (a), PPy (b) as intermediate layers, respectively. (a) Adapted with permission from Ref. 77. Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society. (b) Adapted from Ref. 78. "

Fig 4

Au@MOF drug carriers for combined chemo-photothermal therapy. (a) Concentration-dependent temperature increase of AuNR@ZIF-8 core@shell nanostructures in PBS solution under NIR laser irradiation (1 W·cm-2). Pure PBS solution (pH = 7.4) was used as negative control; (b) DOX release profiles from AuNR@ZIF-8-DOX complexes with and without NIR laser irradiation at different pH values; (c) In vivo infrared thermal images of 4T1 tumor-bearing mice after injection of either AuNR@ZIF-8 core-shell nanostructures or saline with different irradiation times under NIR laser at 808 nm (1 W·cm-2); (d) observation of changes in relative tumor volume from 4T1 tumor-bearing mice with different treatments; (e) representative photograph of excised tumors from euthanized mice. Adapted from Ref. 51. "

Fig 5

Au-Fe3O4 heterodimers for in vivo MR and CT multimodality imaging. Distribution of simulated magnetic field induced by (a) Fe3O4, (b) core@shell Fe3O4@Au NPs and (c) Au-Fe3O4 heterodimers (The scale bar is 20 nm.). (d) The hysteresis loop of Fe3O4 NPs and Au-Fe3O4 heterodimers. (e) The linear fitting of CT value and various concentrations of Au-Fe3O4 heterodimers with different size of Au (The sizes of Au-Fe3O4 dimers 1, 2, and 3 are 3.6 and 19.8 nm, 7.2 and 19.8 nm, and 11.3 and 19.8 nm, respectively.). (f) The linear fitting of 1/T2 and various concentrations of Au-Fe3O4 heterodimers with different sizes of Fe3O4 (The sizes of Au-Fe3O4 in dimers 4, 5, and 6 are 5.0 and 14.5 nm, 4.5 and 19.8 nm, and 12.2 and 38.0 nm, respectively.). (g–j) The MR T2-weighted images, CT images of rat liver before and after the injection of Au-Fe3O4 (4.5 and 19.8 nm) heterodimer solution: (g) MR image before injection; (h) MR image 30 min after injection; (i) CT image before injection; (j) CT image 30 min after injection. Adapted with permission from Ref. 67. Copyright 2019 American Chemical Society."

Fig 6

Schematic illustration of the anticancer effect of doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded bilayered magnetic-plasmonic vesicles (Au@PEG-Fe3O4@PLHPVP). The disassembly into monodisperse Janus Fe3O4-Au NPs in acidic environment results in ROS generation, increases oxidative stress, and releases DOX, leading to combined ROS and chemotherapy of cancer guided by PET, MRI and PA. Adapted with permission from Ref. 102. Copyright 2019 American Chemical Society."

Fig 7

Au@Cu2-xS SPs for enhanced PTT basing on the coupling LSPR effects of the Au core and Cu2-xS shell. Experimental (a) and FDTD calculated (b) LSPR bands of the Au@Cu2–xS SPs. (c) Photothermal effects of the Au@Cu2–xS SPs and the physical mixture of Au and Cu2–xS NPs. (d) Concentration-dependent extinction of the Au@Cu2–xS SPs. (e) In vivo PA images of tumor (highlighted by red circles) from a 4T1 tumor bearing mouse collected before and after tail vein injection of the SPs solution at different time points. (f) 3D in vivo CT mouse images of a tumor (indicated by the white circles) before (left) and after (right) intratumoral injection of the SPs. (g) Infrared thermal images of 4T1 tumor after the mice intravenously injected with the hybrid SPs solution (200 μL, 2.0 mg·mL-1) and then laser irradiated (808 nm, 1.5 W·cm-2) for 5 min. PBS injection is employed as control. (h) Tumor growth inhibition profiles of 4 groups of mice (n = 5) with time post-treatments. Relative tumor volume was normalized to their initial sizes. Adapted with permission from Ref. 81. Copyright 2017 American Chemical Society."

Fig 8

Lip(ASC/PFH) nanocomposites for enhanced PDT basing on the nonradiative transfer of plasmonic energy from the Au core to Cu2O shell. (a) UV-Vis absorption spectra of Au nanoparticles, Cu2O, Au@SiO2, ASC, Au@Cu2O; (b) Time-dependent degradation of DPBF at 410 nm caused by 1O2 generated by Cu2O, Au@SiO2, Au@Cu2O, and ASC under 670 nm laser irradiation; (c) Schematic illustration of Lip(ASC/PFH) for singlet oxygen generation during PDT under Laser Irradiation; (d) Photographs of the mice taken before treatment (0 day) and at 14 days with different treatments, as well as tumors collected from different groups of mice at 14 days. Adapted with permission from Ref. 112. Copyright 2018 American Chemical Society. "

Fig 9

Schematic illustration of thermoresponsive polymer-modified and DOX-loaded Au@CuS yelk@shell nanoparticles (YSNPs) for enhanced PTT, PDT, and chemotherapy basing on resonance energy transfer activation. Adapted with permission from Ref. 113. Copyright 2018 American Chemical Society."