Synergetic effect of Mo6 clusters and gold nanoparticles on photophysical properties of both components.

Photodynamic (PDT) and photothermal (PTT) therapies are very promising candidates for multimodal anticancer therapies (i.e. combination of therapies) since their action is based on almost irresistible by cancer cells mechanisms, namely on generation of highly oxidizing oxygen species or high temperature, respectively. In present work, we report hybrid materials that combine octahedral molybdenum clusters as potential PDT agents and plasmonic spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as PTT agents. Partial overlap of the clusters' photoemission spectra and AuNPs surface plasmon resonance band facilitate energy transfer between the photoactive components, which resulted in synergetic enhancement of their photophysical properties. Specifically, by careful selection of spacing between the cluster and the gold nanoparticle, we achieved significant increase in luminescence and photosensitizing properties of the cluster in comparison to similar, but gold-free particles. On the other hand, cluster complex facilitated the energy conversion into heat by gold particles leading to the increase in heating rate under laser irradiation.