WS2 nanosheet as a new photosensitizer carrier for combined photodynamic and photothermal therapy of cancer cells

Abstract

We have developed a simple and efficient strategy to fabricate WS2 nanosheets with low toxicity and good water solubility via a liquid exfoliation method by using H2SO4 intercalation and ultrasonication. The as-prepared WS2 nanosheets were employed not only as an NIR absorbing agent for photothermal therapy (PTT) but also as a photosensitizer (PS) carrier for photodynamic therapy (PDT) due to their sheet like structure that offers large surface area to load PS molecules. Moreover, singlet-oxygen generation of the PSs–WS2 complex could be finely controlled by NIR irradiation that could manipulate the PSs release behavior from WS2 nanosheets. The synergistic anti-tumor effect of WS2 nanosheets mediated PDT–PTT was also evaluated carefully and the results clearly showed that the efficacy of combined PDT–PTT treatment of cancer cells is significantly higher than those of PDT-only and PTT-only treatment, indicating enhanced efficiency of the combined therapeutic system. In addition, the WS2 could be used as a computed tomography (CT) contrast agent for bio-imaging since W atoms have strong X-ray attenuation ability, making them a multifunctional theranostic platform for simultaneous imaging-guided diagnosis and therapy.