One-step hydrothermal synthesis of flower-like MoS2/VS2 nanocomposite for biomedical applications

Abstract

The pharmaceutical applications of metal oxide nanoparticles has received marked global attention as they can be specifically synthesized to exhibit significant toxicity to bacteria, fungi and cancer cell lines. In this regard, VS2, MoS2 and VS2@MoS2 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using one-pot hydrothermal method, which is simple, low-cost, and environmentally friendly. The structural and microstructural information for VS2, MoS2 and Flower-like MoS2/VS2 nanocomposite were gathered utilizing the Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. XRD structural investigation using the Williamson-Hall approach shows that VS2, MoS2, and VS2@MoS2 NPs are pure crystalline phases with a cubic crystal structure, the size of the crystallites varying with the NPs' respective compositions. The crystallite size of the VS2@MoS2 mixture was measured to be 45 nm, which is smaller than the crystallite size of either component on its own. The products were evaluated for antibacterial activity against various types of bacteria and fungi using the well diffusion method at varying doses. The same samples were then examined for anticancer activity against three distinct cell lines. When compared to their individual counterparts, the data show that the VS2/ MoS2 nanocomposite has a synergistic effect on antibacterial and anticancer capabilities. Amongst some of the three metal disulphide nanomaterials tested, VS2/ MoS2 had the most antibacterial efficacy against both Gram-positive (M. luteus (43.20 ± 0.13 mm) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli, 26.7 ± 0.14 mm). The prepared VS2 (IC50 = 7.85), MoS2 (IC50 = 5.35), and VS2@MoS2 nanocomposite (IC50 = 3.80) show potent anti-cancer activity against breast carcinoma cells than the other cancer cell lines under investigation.