Cytotoxicity of Exfoliated Layered Vanadium Dichalcogenides

Naziah Mohamad Latiff; Zdeněk Sofer; Adrian C Fisher; Martin Pumera

doi:10.1002/chem.201604430

Cytotoxicity of Exfoliated Layered Vanadium Dichalcogenides

Chemistry. 2017 Jan 12;23(3):684-690. doi: 10.1002/chem.201604430. Epub 2016 Dec 7.

Authors

Naziah Mohamad Latiff¹, Zdeněk Sofer², Adrian C Fisher³, Martin Pumera¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore.
² Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3RA, UK.

PMID: 27781318
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201604430

Abstract

Transition-metal Group 5 vanadium dichalcogenides have shown promising properties for many applications, such as batteries, capacitors, electrocatalysts for hydrogen production and many more. However, their toxicological effects have not yet been well understood. Here, we studied the cytotoxicity of exfoliated VS₂ , VSe₂ and VTe₂ by incubating various concentrations of the materials with human lung carcinoma (A549) cells for 24 h and measuring the remaining cell viabilities after the treatment. We found that these vanadium dichalcogenides are relatively more toxic compared to Group 6 transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), namely MoS₂ , WS₂ and WSe₂ . This study is important for a better understanding of the toxicity of TMDs in preparation for their actual commercialisation in the future.

Keywords: chalcogens; cytotoxicity; layered compounds; transition metals; vanadium.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't