Economical Fabrication of Superparamagnetic CoFe₂O₄ Nanodots@MoS₂ Nanosheets with Double PEGylation Using Non-ionic Surfactants with Enhanced Biological Activity

In this work, the fabrication of CoFe₂O₄ nanodots–MoS₂ nanosheets with double PEGylation (COMPI) is achieved by cost-effective methods. The preparation techniques were preferred to cost-effectively enhance the properties and biocompatibility of cobalt ferrite and dichalcogenide nanomaterials. Structural and morphological investigations were done using powder XRD, TEM, XPS, and FT-IR techniques. CoFe₂O₄ nanodots exhibit superparamagnetic behaviour, and the magnetization decreases with the addition of MoS₂ nanosheets and when double-coated with PEG-non-ionic surfactants. This material was designed to study anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial efficacy. The anticancer activity of COMPI in MCF-7 adenocarcinoma (breast cancer) and HepG-2 hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) cell lines was evaluated. A strong cytotoxic potential was observed for both MCF-7 and HepG-2 cell lines and negligible hemolytic activity. Antioxidant assay of SOD and H₂O₂ were assessed as toxicity end-points. Antimicrobial properties against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans showed noteworthy results. This study shows a key to understanding the ferrite nanodots encased in 2D MoS₂ nanosheets with PEGylation forming a unique interaction and the strategy for obtaining in vitro efficiency, which provides strong evidence to support the development of cytotoxicity antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties for significant biomedical potential in nanotherapy.