Carbon dot-sensitized MoS2 nanosheet heterojunctions as highly efficient NIR photothermal agents for complete tumor ablation at an ultralow laser exposure. Issue 15 (28th March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Geng, Bijiang; Qin, Hua; Zheng, Fengfeng; Shen, Wenwen; Li, Ping; Wu, Kuan; Wang, Xulong; Li, Xiaokai; Pan, Dengyu; Shen, Longxiang
• Is Part Of: Nanoscale. Volume 11:Issue 15(2019)
• Page Start: 7209
• Page End: 7220
• Publication Date: 2019-03-28
• Subjects: Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; 620.505
• DOI: 10.1039/c8nr10445j
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2040-3364

Abstract

Abstract : The design and rational construction of 0D/2D/0D sandwich heterojunctions for greatly enhanced PTT and PCT performances. Abstract : Currently, one of the major hurdles hindering the clinical applications of photothermal therapy (PTT) and photothermal-chemo combination therapy (PCT) is the lack of highly efficient, readily derived, and irradiation-safe photothermal agents in the biologically transparent window. Herein, we report the first design and rational construction of 0D/2D/0D sandwich heterojunctions for greatly enhanced PTT and PCT performances using 0D N-doped carbon dots and 2D MoS2 nanosheets as the assembly units. The well-matching heterojunctions enabled an additional enhancement in NIR absorbance owing to the carrier injection from carbon dots to MoS2 nanosheets, and achieved a much higher photothermal conversion efficiency (78.2%) than that of single NIR-CDs (37.6%) and MoS2 (38.3%) only. In virtue of the heterojunction-based PTT, complete tumor recession without recurrence or pulmonary metastasis was realized at an ultralow and safe laser exposure (0.2 W cm −2 ) below the skin tolerance irradiation threshold. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the strong X-ray attenuation and effective drug loading capacity of MoS2 nanosheets, the CT imaging-guided PCT was achieved at 0.1 W cm −2, without inducing noticeable toxic side effects. Our findings can substantiate the potential of a novel 0D/2D heterojunction for cancer theranostics.