Engineering of surface modified Ti3C2Tx MXene based dually controlled drug release system for synergistic multitherapies of cancer

•Au nanoparticle-modified MXenes show enhanced photothermal conversion performance.•MXene@Au-PEG exhibits improved structure stability, biosafety, and histocompatibility.•The MXene@Au-PEG-DOX system has pH-temperature dually controlled drug release modes.•The MXene@Au-PEG-DOX system has achieved excellent synergistic effect in cancer therapy. Easily surface-modified MXenes have been extensively investigated as nanoplatforms for drug delivery because of their high drug-loading capacity, multiple drug release modes, and good biocompatibility. Herein, we report the synthesis of an MXene@Au-PEG drug delivery platform for the high loading of the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX), which has both near infrared (NIR) laser-triggered and pH-responsive drug release modes. Owing to surface modification with thiol polyethylene glycol aldehyde chains (SH-PEG-CHO) connected to the MXene by Au nanoparticles (Au NPs), the MXene@Au-PEG-DOX system shows good photothermal stability, biosafety, and histocompatibility during in vivo and vitro tests. Additionally, based on the good photothermal conversion capability of both Au particles and MXene, the system exhibits synergistic photothermal ablation and chemotherapy for tumor treatment. The passively targeted release properties of the MXene@Au-PEG drug delivery platform also enhance the cellular uptake of DOX at tumor sites, thereby improving the efficiency of the drug. Thus, the reported preparation strategy for a surface-modified MXene-based drug delivery platform with high drug-loading capacity, multiple drug release modes, and synergistic therapy, provides a promising demonstration of the potential application of MXene-based nanomaterials for cancer treatment.