Functionalized graphene oxide/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite: A biocompatible and robust nanocarrier for targeted delivery and...

The development of efficient drug nanocarriers has remained an important challenge in advanced drug delivery in human body. Combination of graphene-based nanomaterials and cyanuric chloride (CC), as a linker, may improve the success of drug delivery. Herein, a simple approach was used for the synthesis of superparamagnetic graphene oxide (SPMGO) nanocomposite through a chemical precipitation method. The nanocomposite was readily functionalized with cyanuric chloride as a linker for loading the drug. The FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the efficient synthesis of nanocarriers. So did the transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and thermo-gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Subsequently, the synthesized nanocarriers were studied in terms of their potential for biomedical applications. Immobilization of methotrexate (MTX), as a drug for treatment of cancer was taken into action on the SPMGO and SPMGO/CC. The in vitro assays indicated that the drug nanocarrier systems, SPMGO/MTX and SPMGO/CC/MTX, are hemo-compatible and increase the efficiency of MTX against Caov-4, HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines. The MTX nanocarriers represented a considerably high drug loading and controlled drug release. The overall results indicated the great potential of SPMGO/CC/MTX nanocarrier for targeted drug delivery, particularly in MTX chemotherapy.