Material Chemistry of Two-Dimensional Inorganic Nanosheets in Cancer Theranostics

Recent advances in two-dimensional (2D) chemistry have led to the rapid development of research on the emerging 2D inorganic nanomaterials in various fields, such as condensed matter physics, material science, chemistry, biology, and nanotechnology. As a special cross-disciplinary research frontier, 2D inorganic nanosheets for oncological applications, which are capable of accomplishing desirable theranostic performance, have attracted great attention from the scientific community in recent years. In this review, we summarize the underlying fundamental principles for the material chemistry of the 2D inorganic family in cancer theranostics and nano-enabled amalgamation of material chemistry and oncology on the basis of the recent progress in theranostic platforms based on 2D inorganic nanosheets. Moreover, current challenges and perspectives on the development of 2D inorganic nanosheets for further clinical translations are also discussed. It is expected that this emerging 2D inorganic family will play a vital role in next-generation cancer theranostics. 2D inorganic nanosheets have emerged as a new unique family of nanomaterials that show unprecedented advantages and superior performances in catalysis, electronic and optoelectronic devices, energy harvesting and storage, and biomedicine as a result of their unique compositional, structural, and physicochemical features. Although several reviews have focused on the biomedical applications of 2D materials, none of them have elucidated the biomedical applications of 2D inorganic nanosheets in cancer theranostics from the viewpoint of material chemistry. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the fundamental principles for the material chemistry of this 2D family to obtain a more comprehensive view of the 2D world and related bio-applications. As a special cross-disciplinary research frontier, 2D inorganic nanomaterials, which are capable of displaying desirable theranostic performance for next-generation oncological applications, have attracted great attention from the scientific community in recent years. In this review, we summarize the underlying fundamental principles for the material chemistry of this 2D inorganic family in cancer theranostics and provide an overview and in-depth discussion on the nano-enabled amalgamation of material chemistry and oncology on the basis of recent progress on theranostic platforms involving 2D inorganic nanosheets.