Construction and synergistic anticancer efficacy of magnetic targeting cabbage-like Fe3O4@MoS2@ZnO drug carriers

A novel cabbage-like Fe3O4@MoS2@ZnO nanocomposite was successfully fabricated through a facile method. The as-prepared nanocomposite exhibited a saturation magnetization of 45 emu g−1 as well as possessed a massive pore structure and large surface area, leading to a high DOX loading capacity of 68.14 μg mg−1; it could effectively deliver drugs to tumor lesion sites under the action of magnetic targeting. The pH-dependent ZnO as a packaging component can block the pores to achieve controlled release of DOX under tumor stimulation conditions (pH 6.5), thereby reducing the side effects of DOX on normal cells and increasing its therapy effects on tumor cells. Moreover, the photothermal conversion efficiency contributed by MoS2 under 808 nm NIR laser irradiation was utilized to realize effective photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer, which could be integrated with chemotherapy in a single system. Thus, the resulting Fe3O4@MoS2@ZnO nanocomposites provide hopeful prospects in biomedical applications based on pH sensitivity, magnetic targeting and chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy.