Light-Induced Heat Conversion of Gold Nanorods as a Local Temperature Probe for Chemical Species Transformation in Aqueous Solution

Numerous heat-dependent chemical reactions are involved in organismal life, and temperature is an important factor that determines whether such reactions progress. To date, ultrasound and thermotherapy techniques have been established in high-end medical treatments and are proposed to monitor temperature changes on a nanoscale of localized areas such as single cells and to induce material synthesis due to local energy conversion. In this study, a nanoprobe that can measure the local temperature on the nanoscale is designed and developed using gold nanoparticles and thermo-sensitive fluorescent materials. To support this concept, a polymer capable of controlling the physical properties of gold nanorods (AuNRs) is manufactured using light-heat conversion synthesis.