Molybdenum Diphosphide Nanorods with Laser‐Potentiated Peroxidase Catalytic/Mild‐Photothermal Therapy of Oral Cancer

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is an emerging treatment that usually employs chemical agents to decompose hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) into hydroxyl radical (•OH) via Fenton or Fenton‐like reactions, inducing cell apoptosis or necrosis by damaging biomacromolecules such as, lipids, proteins, and DNA. Generally, CDT shows high tumor‐specificity and minimal‐invasiveness in patients, thus it has attracted extensive research interests. However, the catalytic reaction efficiency of CDT is largely limited by the relatively high pH at the tumor sites. Herein, a 808 nm laser‐potentiated peroxidase catalytic/mild‐photothermal therapy of molybdenum diphosphide nanorods (MoP(2) NRs) is developed to improve CDT performance, and simultaneously achieve effective tumor eradication and anti‐infection. In this system, MoP(2) NRs exhibit a favorable cytocompatibility due to their inherent excellent elemental biocompatibility. Upon irradiation with an 808 nm laser, MoP(2) NRs act as photosensitizers to efficiently capture the photo‐excited band electrons and valance band holes, exhibiting enhanced peroxidase‐like catalytic activity to sustainedly decompose tumor endogenous H(2)O(2) to •OH, which subsequently destroy the cellular biomacromolecules both in tumor cells and bacteria. As demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo, this system exhibits a superior therapeutic efficiency with inappreciable toxicity. Hence, the work may provide a promising therapeutic technique for further clinical applications.