Synthesis and characterization of Fe3O4/SiO2/GO nanocarrier in curcumin drug delivery

In this study, Fe3O4/SiO2/GO nanocomposites were investigated as a pH-responsive nanocarrier for the loading and release of the anticancer drug curcumin. Fe3O4/SiO2/GO nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal treatment method and characterized and drug delivery properties were investigated using VSM, FTIR, SEM, UV-visible, EDX, and, TEM techniques. The size of Fe3O4/SiO2/GO nanocomposites was about 56 nm. The X-ray diffraction pattern results of Fe3O4/SiO2/GO nanocomposite showed the presence of crystalline, cubic, and tetragonal phases with a crystal size of 14.79 nm, and the VSM results showed the ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature .The results of FTIR analysis and SEM images before and after drug loading confirmed the functionalization of nanocomposites with curcumin. The loading capacity of curcumin on the surface of Fe3O4/SiO2/GO nanocomposites was approximately 19.21%. The curcumin release from nanocarriers increased from 28% to 68% by changing pH from 7.4 to 4.8. Results of the MTT test showed that nanocarriers are significantly toxic on U87 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner, while they are relatively safe for human fibroblast cells.