Regulating photothermal conversion of hemicyanine dye by light-controlling switch: A preliminary investigation

[Display omitted] Photothermal therapy has the advantages of low toxicity, short treatment time, strong controllability, outstanding therapeutic effect. The photothermal conversion efficiency of photothermal agents by converting light energy into heat energy is of great significance for the therapeutic effect. In this work, the dithienylethene-based photochromic switch was firstly employed to regulate the photothermal conversion efficiency of a hemicyanine dye. The result showed that the dithienylethene-coating hemicyanine had an anticipated performance of photo-controlling photothermal conversion. The investigation provides a new idea for the design of novel photothermal agents.