In this paper, the intercalation of methotrexatum (MTX) into layered double hydroxides (LDHs) via an exfoliation-reassembly process was reported and the resulting hybrids were then characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) patterns etc. In the synthesis procedure, LDHs particles were firstly delaminated into well-dispersed 2D nanosheets in formamide by ultrasonic treatment at room temperature, and then the resulting LDH nanosheets were reassembled in MTX solution to form MTX intercalated LDH (MTX/LDHs) hybrids. AFM images showed that during the exfoliation process a large part of LDHs particles were delaminated into single and double brucite layers. XRD patterns and FTIR investigations manifested the successful intercalation of MTX anions into LDHs interlayers for the final samples. It was also found out that the drug-loading capacity of the hybrids increased with the concentrations of MTX solutions, while the morphology became even aggregated. At last, the cell cytotoxicity of the hybrids was estimated by MU assays on the human lung cancer cells (A549), and the results stated that MTX/LDHs hybrids had effective suppress role on the proliferation of cancer cells. (C) 2015 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.