Anna L Keller, Kanwar Abhay Singh, Saptarshi Biswas, Kavita Kadu, Sarah E Miller, Weijian Hua, Sridevi Conjeevaram, Vaaridhi Ramanuja, Shounak Roy, Samantha Foster, Changwoo Do, Wei-Ren Chen, Yifei Jin, Akhilesh K Gaharwar
Tunable fabrication of inorganic two-dimensional (2D) nanoclays is of substantial interest for fundamental studies and biomedical applications. Despite extensive work on inorganic biomaterials, layered silicate nanoclays remain a comparatively underexplored class of 2D systems. Here, we report an optimized hydrothermal method for the tunable fabrication of 2D layered magnesium nanosilicates (nSi). This approach yields disc-like nanoclays with lateral dimensions of ~20-50 nm and thickness of ~1-2 nm. The nanosilicates exhibit rapid cellular internalization, controlled therapeutic release in vitro, and the ability to form shear-thinning, thixotropic gels. Proteomic analyses indicate the formation of a protein corona enriched in factors associated with blood coagulation, consistent with in vitro clotting assays showing a concentration-dependent reduction in clotting time, with decreases of ~50% at higher doses. In an in vivo rat liver-laceration model, nanosilicate treatment reduced clotting time by ~75% and blood loss by ~45%, compared with controls. Collectively, these findings establish a tunable route for fabricating 2D-layered magnesium nanosilicates and suggest their potential utility in hemostasis and wound-management applications.