Harnessing Metal‐Organic Frameworks for NIR‐II Light‐Driven Multiphoton Photocatalytic Water Splitting in Hydrogen Therapy

Abstract

Abstract The construction of near‐infrared (NIR) light‐activated hydrogen‐producing materials that enable the controlled generation and high‐concentration release of hydrogen molecules in deep tumor tissues and enhance the effects of hydrogen therapy holds significant scientific importance. To address the key technical challenge of low‐efficiency oxidation–reduction reactions for narrow‐bandgap photocatalytic materials, this work proposes an innovative approach for the controllable fabrication of multiphoton photocatalytic materials to overcome the limitations imposed by traditional near‐infrared photocatalysts with “narrow‐bandgap” constraints. Herein, an NIR‐responsive multiphoton photocatalyst, ZrTc‐Co, is developed by utilizing a post‐synthetic coordination modification strategy to introduce hydrogenation active site CoII into a multiphoton responsive MOF (ZrTc). The results reveal that with the introduction of the CoII site, electron–hole recombination can be efficiently suppressed, thus promoting the efficiency of hydrogen evolution reaction. In addition, the integration of CoII can effectively enhance charge transfer and improve static hyperpolarizability, which endows ZrTc‐Co with excellent multiphoton absorption. Moreover, hyaluronic acid modification endows ZrTc‐Co with cancer cell‐specific targeting characteristics, laying the foundation for tumor‐specific elimination. Collectively, the proposed findings present a strategy for constructing NIR‐II light‐mediated hydrogen therapeutic agents for deep tumor elimination.

Keywords

• hydrogen therapy
• metal‐organic framework
• multiphoton absorption
• near‐infrared light
• photocatalytic