Review: 2D MXenes for biomedical applications—recent advances, challenges, and future perspectives

MXenes, a class of two-dimensional materials, have attracted significant attention in biomedical engineering due to their distinctive physicochemical characteristics. This review summarizes recent advances in MXene-based materials for healthcare applications, emphasizing their multifunctional roles in antibacterial protection, drug delivery, photothermal therapy, biosensing, and tissue regeneration. Key intrinsic properties of MXenes, including high electrical conductivity, tunable surface chemistry, hydrophilicity, mechanical flexibility, biocompatibility, antioxidant, bio-functionality, and antibacterial activity, make them ideal candidates for surface engineering. MXene coatings demonstrate broad-spectrum antibacterial activity via membrane disruption, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and photothermal effects under light exposure. In therapeutic applications, their large surface area and photothermal conversion capability enable targeted, stimuli-responsive drug release and synergistic cancer treatment. Experimental studies indicate minimal hemolysis and excellent cytocompatibility, supporting safe biological interfacing. The review also discusses existing challenges, such as long-term stability, potential cytotoxicity, MXene oxidative degradation, and fabrication scalability. Finally, future directions are outlined to promote the development of safe, robust, and clinically translatable MXene-based coatings for biomedical use.