Preparation and photothermal effect of Chitosan-Alginate-Molybdenum diselenide nanocomposite scaffolds for cancer therapy

Abstract

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have gained significant attention for biological and biomedical applications due to their biocompatible properties and photothermal effects. In the current study, TMD nanosheets were fabricated with poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PPP) triblock copolymer using the liquid exfoliation method. This study prepared TMD nanosheets of PPP-molybdenum sulfide (PPP-MoS2), PPP-tungsten disulfide (PPP-WS2), PPP-molybdenum diselenide (PPP-MoSe2), and PPP-tungsten diselenide (PPP-WS2). The synthesized PPP-TMD nanosheets were characterized using DLS, FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, and photothermal studies. The DLS results indicated that the nanosheets were 165.1 ± 2.2 to 217.7 ± 2.8 nm and had a zeta potential of −40.9 ± 0.6 to −43.3 ± 0.4 mV and a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.2. The FT-IR results showed that the fabricated nanosheets contained polymeric substances, and the UV results confirmed that each PPP-TMD had surface plasmon resonance peaks. The XRD patterns of the nanosheets were consistent with those of the International Centre for Diffraction Data. The SEM and TEM results determined that the PPD-TMD sheets were 150 ± 20 nm wide and were single-layer nanosheets with selective area diffraction patterns. The photothermal effects of the PPP-MoSe2 nanosheets at a 30 µg/mL concentration were evaluated at 808 nm with a 1 W cm−2 current. PPP-MoSe2 exhibited the strongest photothermal effect at > 55 °C for 5 min of laser exposure. In addition, the cytotoxicity effects of PPP-MoSe2 were measured with breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) with a 5 min laser treatment. At a 30 µg/mL concentration, PPP-MoSe2 inhibited cancer cells by up to 95 %. Further, alginate-chitosan-PPP-MoSe2 composites were developed and evaluated for their photothermal effect. We believe that PPP-MoSe2 will be an excellent material in cancer therapy.