Mussel-inspired fabrication of a photothermal composite hydrogel for MR-guided localized tumor ablation

Photothermal ablation could be considered an effective treatment for tumors, but accurate administration and enrichment of photothermal agents remain a huge challenge. Herein, a mussel-inspired photothermal polymeric hydrogel (PPH) was synthesized through a ferric iron-triggered simultaneous metal-catechol coordination reaction and oxidative polymerization of covalently linked pyrrole. The PPH with rapid gelation (less than 10 s) exhibited high photothermal conversion efficiency (49.3%), which enabled effective hyperthermal therapy in situ . Besides, the introduced iron could be used as a T 2 -weighted contrast agent for real-time MR imaging to explore the retention and bio-degradation of PPH in vivo . Overall, our findings evidence that the resultant PPH, which possesses potential application in tumor ablation in situ , and metal-catechol coordination strategy inspired by mussel adhesion may stimulate biomedical hydrogel development. A mussel-inspired photothermal polymeric hydrogel (PPH) was synthesized has been successfully used in tumor ablation in situ .