Polydopamine doped reduced graphene oxide/mesoporous silica nanosheets for chemo-photothermal and enhanced photothermal therapy

Highlights

• rGO/MSN/PDA was successfully prepared by one-pot fabrication.

• Photothermal conversion efficiency of rGO/MSN/PDA was nearly twice that of GO/MSN.

• The rGO/MSN/PDA/DOX was used for pH-responsive release and synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy.

Abstract

The nanoplatform of synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy has superior advantages on antitumor. It is urgently needed to explore novel nanocarrier for improving photothermal performance in drug delivery process. Herein, we synthesized polydopamine doped mesoporous silica-coated reduced graphene oxide (rGO/MSN/PDA) by simply adding dopamine hydrochloride into the oil-water biphasic reaction system as a multifunctional drug carrier for anticancer treatment, which combines chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. The rGO/MSN/PDA showed nearly twice the photothermal conversion efficiency of mesoporous silica-coated graphene oxide (GO/MSN) due to the reduction of GO and doping with PDA. In addition, the rGO/MSN/PDA showed pH-response DOX release abilities, which means higher release of DOX in tumor cells. The cell experiments in vitro proved that rGO/MSN/PDA with better biocompatibility compare to GO/MSN might offer a promising tool for improving the therapeutic effects of hepatocellular carcinoma cells through synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy.