Development of biodegradable chitosan/ graphene oxide nanocomposite via spray drying method for drug loading and delivery application

Biocompatible chitosan (CS) - graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites synthesized by spray drying method to evaluate their mechanical, thermal, and drug delivery attributes. Spray drying is a single step process that reduces particle size and alters surface morphology to transform a liquid suspension or solution into a solid dry powder with improved solubility. In present article, mechanical and thermal properties of spray dried CS nanocomposites with variable concentrations of GO were examined, employing a combination of physiochemical methods including FT-IR, UV–Visible spectroscopy, TGA, DSC, DMA, and FESEM. The nanocomposite comprising 5 wt% GO had the best combination of thermal and mechanical properties and was chosen as a nanocarrier system for the curcumin (CU) drug. The goal of developing a drug delivery (DD) vehicle for CU drug was to improve its therapeutic applications, such as increasing CU solubility and preventing degradation. The CS/GO nanocarrier system had a 74% drug entrapment efficiency. The in-vitro drug release analysis demonstrated a quick release of about 35% of the drug at acidic pH 4 and 16% at pH 7.4 within 6 h, indicating a regulated release of CU drug for 24 h. On human prostate cancer cells (PC-3), the in vitro viability of CS/GO/CU, CS, GO, CS/GO, CU systems was investigated. CS/GO/CU nanocomposite exhibited greater cytotoxic effect on PC-3 cancer cells than CU drug. These findings imply that a spray dried CS/GO nanocarrier system could be a promising nanocarrier system for DD application.