Near-infrared light and pH-responsive Au@carbon/calcium phosphate nanoparticles for imaging and chemo-photothermal cancer therapy of cancer cells.

A simple, mild and reproducible synthetic route was developed to fabricate the multifunctional Au@carbon/calcium phosphate core-shell nanoparticles (Au@C/CaP NPs), which act as an efficient nanoplatform for pH/near-infrared (NIR) dual-responsive drug delivery, X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging and synergistic chemo-photothermal cancer therapy in vitro.