High-Throughput Synthesis of Single-Layer MoS₂ Nanosheets as a Near-Infrared Photothermal-Triggered Drug Delivery for Effective Cancer Therapy

TLDR

The study develops a high‑throughput, low‑cost synthesis of size‑controlled single‑layer MoS₂ nanosheets for NIR‑triggered drug delivery in cancer therapy. MoS₂ nanosheets were exfoliated via an improved oleum treatment, functionalized with chitosan, loaded with doxorubicin, and engineered to release the drug upon 808 nm NIR laser irradiation for combined chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated superior tumor ablation with the combined treatment, and the nanosheets also served as X‑ray CT contrast agents, highlighting their theranostic potential.

Abstract

We report here a simple, high-yield yet low-cost approach to design single-layer MoS2 nanosheets with controllable size via an improved oleum treatment exfoliation process. By decorating MoS2 nanosheets with chitosan, these functionalized MoS2 nanosheets have been developed as a chemotherapeutic drug nanocarrier for near-infrared (NIR) photothermal-triggered drug delivery, facilitating the combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy into one system for cancer therapy. Loaded doxorubicin could be controllably released upon the photothermal effect induced by 808 nm NIR laser irradiation. In vitro and in vivo tumor ablation studies demonstrate a better synergistic therapeutic effect of the combined treatment, compared with either chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone. Finally, MoS2 nanosheets can also be used as a promising contrast agent in X-ray computed tomography imaging due to the obvious X-ray absorption ability of Mo. As a result, the high-throughput oleum treatment exfoliation process could be extended for fabricating other 2D nanomaterials, and the NIR-triggered drug release strategy was encouraging for simultaneous imaging-guided cancer theranostic application.