Chronic osteomyelitis (COM), is a long-term, constant,
and intractable
disease mostly induced by infection from the invasion of Staphylococcus
aureus (S. aureus) into bone cells. Here,
we describe a highly effective microwave (MW) therapeutic strategy
for S. aureus-induced COM based on the in
situ growth of interfacial oxygen vacancy-rich molybdenum
disulfide (MoS2)/titanium carbide (Ti3C2T
x
) MXene with oxygen-deficient
titanium dioxide (TiO2‑x) on Ti3C2T
x
(labeled as HU-MoS2/Ti3C2T
x
) by producing
reactive oxygen species (ROS) and heat. HU-MoS2/Ti3C2T
x
produced heat
and ROS, which could effectively treat S. aureus-induced
COM under MW irradiation. The underlying mechanism determined by density
functional theory (DFT) and MW vector network analysis was that HU-MoS2/Ti3C2T
x
formed a high-energy local electric field under MW irradiation,
consequently generating more high-energy free electrons to pass and
move across the interface at a high speed and accelerate by the heterointerface,
which enhanced the charge accumulation on both sides of the interface.
Moreover, these charges were captured by the oxygen species adsorbed
at the HU-MoS2/Ti3C2T
x
interface to produce ROS. MoS2 facilitated
multiple reflections and scattering of electromagnetic waves as well
as enhanced impedance matching. Ti3C2T
x
enhanced the conduction loss of electromagnetic
waves, while functional groups induced dipole polarization to enhance
attenuation of MW.