Surface Modified Ti₃C₂ MXene Nanosheets for Tumor Targeting Photothermal/Photodynamic/Chemo Synergistic Therapy

Abstract

Ti₃C₂ MXene is a new two-dimensional material exhibiting a variety of novel properties including good photothermal effect, and the capability of Ti₃C₂ for multimodal tumor therapy is in urgent need of development. Herein, ultrathin Ti₃C₂ MXene nanosheets (∼100 nm) have been synthesized by supplying additive Al³⁺ to avoid Al loss and employed as a photothermal/photodynamic agent for cancer therapy. The as-obtained nanosheets exhibit outstanding mass extinction coefficient (28.6 Lg^-1 cm^-1 at 808 nm), superior photothermal conversion efficiency (∼58.3%), and effective singlet oxygen generation (¹O₂) upon 808 nm laser irradiation. Based on these Ti₃C₂ nanosheets, a multifunctional nanoplatform (Ti₃C₂-DOX) is established via layer-by-layer surface modification with doxorubicin (DOX) and hyaluronic acid (HA). In vitro and in vivo experiments disclose that Ti₃C₂-DOX shows enhanced biocompatibility, tumor specific accumulation, and stimuli-responsive drug release behavior and achieve effective cancer cell killing and tumor tissue destruction through photothermal/photodynamic/chemo synergistic therapy.