Curcumin-Loaded ZIF-8 Nanomaterials: Exploring Drug Loading Efficiency and Biomedical Performance

Curcumin (cur) possesses excellent therapeutic properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and healing-promoting effects. However, its biomedical application is impeded by its rapid degradation, limited bioavailability, and poor aqueous solubility. Zeolitic imidazole framework (ZIF-8), with a high surface area and tunable pore size, is designed and used as a cur delivery carrier to overcome these limitations. The synthesis of cur-loaded ZIF-8 involves a solvothermal method, followed by encapsulation of cur within the porous structure of ZIF-8. The amount of cur was varied to synthesize a series of panel cur-loaded ZIF-8. 0.5 mg/mL cur@ZIF-8 that showed higher drug loading efficiency (85.91 ± 1.26%) and drug loading capability (12.93 ± 0.19%) without changes in shape, size, crystallinity, chemical composition, and thermal stability of original ZIF-8. 0.5 mg/mL cur@ZIF-8 exhibited excellent surface area (1591.02 m²/g) and micropore volume (0.54 cm³/g). Cur@ZIF-8 demonstrated superior thermal stability and outstanding antibacterial properties, achieving 99% efficiency compared with free cur. It exhibited less cytotoxicity against human fibroblast cells and better antioxidant properties than ZIF-8. Furthermore, the drug release rate of cur@ZIF-8 is higher under acidic conditions, which promotes wound healing due to the acidic microenvironment of the skin. The biocompatibility and stability of cur@ZIF-8 nanoparticles highlight their potential as promising candidates for diverse biomedical applications.