Encapsulation of graphene quantum dot-crosslinked chitosan by carboxymethylcellulose hydrogel beads as a pH-responsive bio-nanocomposite for the oral delivery agent.

Oral delivery most commonly used due to the non-invasive nature and the fact that avoids patient pain and discomfort in compression with the intravenous administration. Herein, the obtained graphene quantum dots (GQDs) from citric acid were employed as a cross-linker for chitosan (CS). Sodium salicylate (SS) as a model drug was loaded in the prepared graphene quantum dots-crosslinked chitosan hybrid bio-nanocomposite beads (CS-GQD). SS-loaded CS-GQD (CS-GQD/SS) was protected with pH-sensitive biopolymeric carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) hydrogel beads. The CMC encapsulated CS-GQD/SS bio-nanocomposite hydrogel beads (CS-GQD/SS@CMC) were characterized using FT-IR, PL and SEM analysis. For determination of surficial charge of the carrier, pH point of zero charges (pH) was measured. In-vitro drug delivery tests were carried out in simulating the gastrointestinal tract conditions for proving the efficiency of the prepared beads as a controlled oral drug delivery. The synergistic effects of CMC and CS enhanced the stability of drug dosing for a long time with controlling the drug releases in the gastrointestinal tract conditions. The MTT test confirmed that the bio-nanocomposite beads have low toxicity against human colon adenocarcinoma HT29 cells. The obtained results showed that the prepared novel CS-GQD/SS@CMC could potentially be used as a safe carrier for oral drug delivery.