Super-stable two-dimensional radical conjugated metal-organic frameworks for efficient NIR-II photothermal conversion
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Radical-functionalized chromophores hold promise as noninvasive NIR-II agents due to their narrow HOMO-SOMO gaps, but inherent instability from radical quenching has limited their practical applications. Here, we report a molecularly engineered class of two-dimensional conjugated metal-organic frameworks (2D c-MOFs) that simultaneously integrate stable radicals (>24 months), extended π-delocalization, and metal-ligand coordination. This synergistic architecture achieves an ultrabroad NIR-II absorption peak extending beyond 1400 nm with extinction coefficients approaching ~106 M-1 cm-1, which outperform traditional photothermal agents by orders of magnitude. Through strategic graft of side chains, we promote vibrational relaxation pathways, markedly enhancing nonradiative decay and enabling a photothermal conversion efficiency of 92.9%. In cell experiments, 2D c-MOFs achieve complete tumor cell ablation under ultralow NIR-II irradiation intensity (0.1 W cm-2) that highlights their potential for deep-tissue photothermal therapy. Our work establishes a robust and generalizable molecular design strategy for developing stable radical-based NIR-II agents with exceptional photothermal performance, paving the way for their application in deep-tissue therapy.
Details
| Original language | English |
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| Article number | eaec7519 |
| Journal | Science advances |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 19 |
| Publication status | Published - 8 May 2026 |
| Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
| PubMed | 42090487 |
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