Cytotoxicity of Group 5 Transition Metal Ditellurides (MTe₂; M=V, Nb, Ta)

Abstract

Much research effort has been put in to study layered compounds with transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) being one of the most studied compounds. Due to their extraordinary properties such as excellent electrochemical properties, tuneable band gaps, andlow shear resistance due to weak van derW aals interactions betweenl ayers, TMDs have been found to have wide applicationss uch as electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions, supercapacitors, biosensors, field-effect transistors (FETs), photovoltaics, and lubricant additives. In very recent years, Group 5t ransition metal ditellurides have received an immense amount of research attention.H owevert od ate, little has been known of the potentialt oxicities posed by these materials. As such, we conducted the cytotoxicity study by incubating various concentrations of the Group 5t ransition metal ditellurides (MTe 2 ;M= V, Nb,T a) with human lung carcinoma epithelial A549 cells for 24 hours and the remaining cell viabilities after treatment was measured. Our findings indicate that VTe 2 is highlyt oxic whereas NbTe 2 and TaTe 2 are deemed to exhibit mild toxicities. This study constitutes an exemplary first step towards the understanding of the Group 5t ransition metal ditellurides' toxicitye ffects in preparation for their possible future commercialisation. IntroductionEver since the first isolation of graphene from graphite by Novoselove tal. in 2004, [1] two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have gained intensiveacademic and industrial research interest due to their extraordinarya nd unique properties. To date, a vast range of 2D nanomaterials have been reported;s uch examplesi nclude transition metal dichalcogenides( TMDs), graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ), black phosphorus, and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Among2 Dn anomaterials, TMDs are deemed to be one of the most studied layered compounds due to their extraordinary electrochemical properties. [9][10][11][12] TMDs have ag eneral chemical formula of MX 2 ,w hereby M represents at ransition metal (for instance Ti,V ,N b, Ta,M o, W, and so on) of a + 4o xidation state and Xi sachalcogen (S, Se, or Te)w ith a À2o xidation state . [9,13,14] Different permutations of thesee lements give rise to approximately6 0d ifferent TMDs, where two-thirds of these compounds are reported to assumel ayereds tructures. Generally,t ransition metals from Groups4 -7 generate compounds that are predominantly layered while some Group 8-10 transition metals give rise to three-dimensional crystal compounds. [14][15][16] Many TMDs possess al ayered structure akin to graphite, and within one layer of TMDs,t he transition metal is sandwiched between two chalcogens, hence resulting in the MX 2 stoichiometry.I th as been reported that the bonds within each layer are covalent, whereas the bonds between two different MX 2 layersa re typicallyh eld by van der Waals forces of interactions, thus allowing exfoliation of TMDs down to single layers. [9,[13][14][15][17][18][19] The unique and advantageous...

Assessing and Mitigating the Hazard Potential of Two-Dimensional Materials

“…A similar study by the same group was recently published on the cytotoxicity of vanadium ditelluride (VTe 2 ), niobium ditelluride (NbTe 2 ), and tantalum ditelluride (TaTe 2 ) in the same cell line (A549), allowing for direct comparison to the cytotoxicity of MoS 2 , WS 2 , and WSe 2 from the previous study. 127 High cytotoxicity was observed after exposure to VTe 2 , whereas NbTe 2 and TaTe 2 showed reduced cytotoxicity. Overall, the ditellurides exhibited higher cytotoxicity than the disulfide materials, while WSe 2 exhibited similar cytotoxicity to the ditellurides.…”

Cytotoxicity of Shear Exfoliated Pnictogen (As, Sb, Bi) Nanosheets

“…Likewise, nanomaterials have also been reported to interfere with MTT by undergoing a redox reaction with the active tetrazolium salt or through binding with the insoluble formazan crystals yielded, thereby leading to the number of viable cells being overestimated or underestimated, respectively . To investigate whether these pnictogen nanosheets could induce any form of interference towards the MTT assay, various concentrations of shear exfoliated pnictogen nanosheets ranging from 0 to 200 μg mL −1 were incubated with MTT reagent and the spectroscopic absorbance data obtained are presented in Figure b.…”

Converging 2D Nanomaterials and 3D Bioprinting Technology: State‐of‐the‐Art, Challenges, and Potential Outlook in Biomedical Applications

“…In this context, in vitro cytotoxicity of three common TMDs with different chemical compositions (MoS 2 , WS 2, and WSe 2 ) were evaluated toward the A549 cells after 24 h exposure via MTT and WST-assays (Figure 18c). [282] Compared to MoS 2 and WS 2 nanosheets with slight cytotoxicity even up to 400 μg mL −1 dose, WSe 2 induced higher toxicity with a dose-dependent manner as the viability of A549 cell exposed to 400 μg mL −1 of WSe 2 reduced to 31.8%. This indicated that the nature of chalcogen in the chemical structure of 2D TMDs plays a key role in the toxicity profile.…”