Facile synthesis of water-dispersible Cu2O nanocrystal-reduced graphene oxide hybrid as a promising cancer therapeutic agent.

We report a Cu(2)O nanocrystal-reduced graphene oxide hybrid that is dispersible in water and has anticancer activity under both visible and near-infrared light irradiation. In contrast to the highly efficient killing of both normal and cancer cells initiated by the photothermal effect, the photocatalytic effect of this material results in the selective killing of cancer cells under visible light irradiation. These results have implications for safe and widely applicable cancer therapy agents.