Ternary Cu2MX4 (CMX)-based nanoarchitectonics: Chemistry, synthesis, and biomedical applications

Owing to their elemental abundance and unique bandgap, ternary transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) have recently attracted significant attention from researchers. Among various TMCs, Cu₂MX₄ (M = Mo, and W; X = S, and Se, shortly denoted as CMX) species possess distinct advantages, such as tunable chemical composition, resultant diverse morphologies (structure, size, and shape), excellent biocompatibility, exceptional degradability, unique catalytic performance, and considerable in vivo elimination. Considering these outstanding morphological attributes and desirable physicochemical features, this article explicitly reviews recent advancements and the latest breakthroughs of different CMX-based nanoarchitectures for biomedicine. Initially, we discuss the chemistry and relevant properties offered by elements in the composites. Then, a brief note is given on different CMX-based nanoarchitectures. Further, we present various synthesis strategies for generating different structures, highlighting their altered morphology and the factors affecting various formulation parameters. Further, the possible effects offered by these CMX-based nanoarchitectures are explored in different fields of biomedicine. Finally, we summarize the article with an interesting outlook on their clinical translation.