Carbon Nanotheranostic Materials: Carbon Dots and Ordered Mesoporous Carbons

Ordered mesoporous carbon nanoparticles (OMCNs) and carbon dots (C-dots) are emerging materials that have shown great potential for application in the biomedical field, biocompatibility, and versatility in the delivery of therapeutic and as diagnostic agents. There is still a great potential to be explored as nanotheranostic systems due to the simultaneous emission of heat and fluorescence by C-dots and photoacoustic and photothermal imaging of OMCNs. In the present work, we review the main advances in the use of these materials for drug delivery, mostly for treating tumors, highlighting an overview of methods of synthesis and conjugation to molecules, the responsiveness to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, the use in diagnostic imaging techniques, and an analysis of intellectual property in the last decade.