Graphene Oxide-Template Gold Nanosheets as Highly Efficient Near-Infrared Hyperthermia Agents for Cancer Therapy

Introduction: Near-infrared (NIR) hyperthermia agents are promising in cancer photothermal therapy due to their deeper penetration ability and less side effects. Spherical gold nanoshell and graphene-based nanomaterials are two major NIR hyperthermia agents that have been reported for photothermal therapy of cancer. Herein, we constructed a two-dimensional graphene oxide-template gold nanosheet ( [email protected] 2 @AuNS) hybrid that could destruct cancer cells with efficient photothermal effect. Methods: Graphene oxide was coated with a layer of mesoporous silica, which provided binding sites for gold seeds. Then, seed-growth method was utilized to grow a layer of gold nanosheet to form the [email protected] 2 @AuNS hybrid, which possessed great biocompatibility and high photothermal conversion efficiency. Results: With the irradiation of NIR laser (808 nm) with low power density (0.3 W/cm 2 ), [email protected] 2 @AuNS hybrid showed a photothermal conversion efficiency of 30%, leading to a temperature increase of 16.4 °C in water. Colorectal cancer cells (KM12C) were killed with the treatment of [email protected] 2 @AuNS hybrid under NIR irradiation. Conclusion: The [email protected] 2 @AuNS hybrid may expand the library of the 2D nanostructures based on gold for cancer photothermal therapy.