The Post-Graphene 2d Materials Family In Biomedicine: From Mechanistic Foundations To Translational Barriers

Abstract

The post-graphene generation of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials has substantially reshaped the biomedical landscape. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), MXene carbides and nitrides, black phosphorus (BP), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), layered double hydroxides (LDHs), laponite, and the broader class of emerging Xenes together constitute a materials platform of considerable functional diversity and therapeutic potential. Across this landscape, several themes recur with consistent clarity. Nanoscale interface engineering is decisive in nearly every application context, while multimodal therapeutic architectures systematically outperform single-modality approaches. Each material family occupies a distinct application-specific niche; no single 2D platform offers universal biomedical utility, and treating these materials as interchangeable has consistently underperformed. The field also shares four translational barriers that cut across all material classes: incomplete long-term toxicological profiles, poorly characterised biodegradation pathways, insufficient GMP-scale manufacturing capability, and the absence of coherent regulatory frameworks.

The quantitative benchmarks now achievable in this space are significant. Drug loading in PEGylated MoS₂ has exceeded 200 wt%; Ti₃C₂ MXene has achieved complete in vivo tumour eradication under NIR irradiation; FET biosensor limits of detection have reached 67 zeptomolar, an improvement of roughly twelve orders of magnitude since 1970; Nb₂C achieves photothermal conversion efficiencies of 46.65% in the NIR-II window; and electrically stimulated MXene substrates double neural stem cell proliferation rates. Despite this progress, no 2D material-based device has yet cleared regulatory approval as of 2026, a fact that more than any other defines the field's most pressing challenge.