Decorated reduced graphene oxide for photo-chemotherapy

The biocompatibility and toxicity are still the key issues for graphene-based nanocarriers in the application of photothermal therapy. Herein, a novel surface modification strategy to prepare dextran decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets has been presented. In this strategy, octadecanic acid is conjugated on dextran and used as a hydrophobic anchor to prepare dextran decorated rGO sheets. After being decorated by dextran, rGO sheets not only show excellent biocompatibility but also can load anticancer drugs for photo-chemotherapy. The data of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis, Raman spectrum analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements powerfully prove that the desired rGO compound with the ideal nano-size has been successfully prepared and is stable enough. To verify the photo-chemotherapy, an anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX), has been loaded into the decorated rGO sheets (rGO/DOX/C18D). Furthermore, to improve the intracellular uptake, folic acid (FA), as a common target molecule, has been introduced (rGO/DOX/C18DF). Compared with single chemotherapy, rGO/DOX/C18D and rGO/DOX/C18DF combining the local specific chemotherapy and external near-infrared (NIR) photo-thermal therapy show higher therapeutic efficacy, endowing the decorated rGO nanoparticle with great potential for cancer treatments.