Abstract
Transition-metal chalcogenide compounds with facile preparation and multifunctional elements act as ideal photothermal agents for cancer theranostics. This work synthesizes Cu(7.2)S(4)/5MoS(2) composite nanoflowers and investigates the crystal growth mechanism to optimize the synthesis strategy and obtain excellent photothermal therapy agents. Cu(7.2)S(4)/5MoS(2) exhibits a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 58.7% and acts as a theranostic nanoplatform and demonstrated an effective photothermal-chemodynamic-photodynamic synergetic therapeutic effect in both in vitro and in vivo tests. Moreover, Cu(7.2)S(4)/5MoS(2) shows strong photoacoustic signal amplitudes and computed tomographic contrast enhancement in vivo. These results suggest a potential application of Cu(7.2)S(4)/5MoS(2) composite nanoflowers as photo/H(2)O(2)-responsive therapeutic agents against tumors.