Fig. 4. (A) Schematic diagram of the internal loading and triggered release of therapeutic agents encapsulated with PCMs in AuNCs. The therapeutic agents can be anticancer drugs, H₂SeO₃, AIPH and Ca²⁺. (B and C) Typical TEM images of AuNCs before and after encapsulating the PCM and payloads. Scale bar: 20 nm. (D) The release curve of dye when heated to different temperatures. Adapted with permission from ref. 21. Copyright 2011 American Chemical Society. (E and F) Fluorescence images of the JC-1 stained A549 cells in the presence or absence of the laser irradiation after being incubated with CaCl₂-PCM@AuNCs for 6 h (808 nm, 0.8 W cm⁻², 10 min). JC-1 would emit red fluorescence when forming the J-aggregated state and emit green fluorescence when in monomeric form. The nuclei were stained with DAPI in blue. Adapted with permission from ref. 24. Copyright 2019 Wiley-VCH.