Carboxymethyl cellulose/graphene oxide bio-nanocomposite hydrogel beads as anticancer drug carrier agent

Biodegradable carboxymethyl cellulose/graphene oxide (CMC/GO) nanocomposite hydrogel beads as a drug delivery system were prepared via physically crosslinking with FeCl₃·6H₂O for controlled release of anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX). The π-π stacking interaction between DOX and GO resulted in higher loading capacity and controlled release of the DOX loaded from CMC/GO nanocomposites hydrogel. The release profile of DOX from hydrogel beads at pH 6.8 and 7.4 indicated it's strongly pH dependence. Interaction between GO and DOX with H-bonding could be unstable under acidic conditions which resulted in faster drug release rate in pH 6.8. The formation of GO nanoparticles in the hydrogels was confirmed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the chemical structure and morphology of the prepared CMC/GO nanocomposite hydrogel beads were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), SEM and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, swelling behavior of nanocomposite hydrogels was investigated in PBS solution.