• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.312-319
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• 2021

Photothermal therapy is a treatment that necrotizes selectively the abnormal cells, in particular cancer cells, which are more vulnerable to heat than normal cells, using the heat generated when irradiating light. In this study, we synthesized a reduced graphene oxide with carboxyl groups (CRGO)-gold nanorod (AuNR) nanocomposite for photothermal treatment. Graphene oxide (GO) was selectively reduced and exfoliated at high temperature to synthesize CRGO, and the length of AuNR was adjusted according to the amount of AgNO₃, to synthesize AuNR with a strong absorption peak at 880 nm, as an ideal photothermal agent. It was determined through FT-IR, thermogravimetric and fluorescence analyses that more carboxyl groups were conjugated with CRGO over RGO. In addition, CRGO exhibited excellent stability in aqueous solutions compared to RGO due to the presence of carboxylic acid. The CRGO-AuNR nanocomposites fabricated by electrostatic interaction have an average size of ~317 nm with a narrow size distribution. It was confirmed that under radiation with a near-infrared 880 nm laser which has an excellent tissue transmittance, the photothermal effect of CRGO-AuNR nanocomposites was greater than that of AuNR due to the synergistic effect of the two photothermal agents, CRGO and AuNR. Furthermore, the results of cancer cell toxicity by photothermal effect revealed that CRGO-AuNR nanocomposites showed superb cytotoxic properties. Therefore, the CRGO-AuNR nanocomposites are expected to be applied to the field of anticancer photothermal therapy based on their stable dispersibility and improved photothermal effect.