Biohydrogels Reinforced with Graphene Oxide as an Ecofriendly Nanocarrier for Controlled Drug Delivery

Abstract

In recent years, polymer nanocomposites are widely prepared for different biomedical applications such as controlled drug release systems used in the development of drug delivery for cancer treatment. Through pH-sensitive nano-systems, the drug release is triggered by an acidic tumor environment to improve the efficiency of cancer treatment. The main purpose of the ideal drug delivery system (DDS) is keeping the drug within the desired therapeutic range after a single dose, and/or target the drug to a specific area while reducing its overall dosage. The aim of this study was preparation of pH-sensitive drug carrier from Starch (ST) and 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) reinforced with graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite hydrogel (ST-PHEMA/GO) in aqueous solution via γ-radiation induced copolymerization and crosslinking. The structure and morphology of the nanocomposite hydrogel were studied by FTIR, FE-SEM, XRD and TEM analysis. The swelling behavior of the prepared hydrogels loading the drug was determined by investigating the time and pH-dependent swelling of the (ST-PHEMA) hydrogels of different GO content and irradiation dose. The effect of environmental parameters such as pH on the swelling kinetics and the efficiency of the nanocarrier in releasing the drug to breast cancer cells MCF-7 were studied. The results showed as the irradiation dose increases, the GO distribution in ST-PHEMA matrix becomes more homogenous where 30kGy had the best distribution. TEM and XRD analysis confirmed the present of GO in the polymer matrix in the nano scale. Furthermore, the higher the GO content, the higher the swelling percentage and the diffusion exponent (n) according to Fickian law is less than 0.5 indicating that the nanocarrier is following diffusion-controlled process (Fickian diffusion mechanism). The nanocarrier loading the drug showed high toxicity to the cancerous cells manifesting its ability to be used in the controlled drug delivery medicine