Graphene oxide A platform towards theranostics

Due to the abundance of its utilization in various applications, ranging from electronics to biomedicine, recent data witnessed manifold increase in the commercial potential of graphene oxide based biomaterials. Major contribution of such increased potential comes from the work on graphene oxide which carries unparalleled advantage over graphene itself and/or reduced graphene oxide. Few reviews have been published in previous years which have highlighted the capacity of graphene oxide in drug delivery and photothermal therapy application. But this review exclusively provides an outlook for the role of graphene oxide based magnetic composites in constituting a theranostic system through previously inaccessible options. These composites have been exploited for their use in drug delivery applications, biosensing, bioimaging and phototherapy. This review discusses the potential challenges and advantages of using graphene oxide based magnetic nanocomposites systems to explore much needed length and breadth of theranostics, not fully elaborated so far. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.