Chitosan-based DyO/CuFeO bio-nanocomposite development, characterization, and drug release kinetics.

Chitosan (CS)/metal oxide (MO) nano-carriers have recently attracted attention due to their great integration into several biomedical applications. Herein, CS and dysprosium oxide based bio-nanocomposites (DyO/CuFeO/CS) were prepared using a citrate sol-gel route for biomedical settings at large and drug delivery, in particular. The chemical structure, average crystallite size, and surface morphology of DyO/CuFeO/CS bio-nanocomposites were characterized using spectroscopic techniques, including FT-IR, PXRD, and SEM. The prepared nano composite's drug loading or release kinetics were investigated by FT-IR, zeta potential (ZP), and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). In the FT-IR spectrum, the peaks in the range of 800-400 cm confirmed the formation of meta-oxides, while amide bands at 1661 and 1638 cm revealed the existence of CS in the bio-nanocomposite. The peaks at 2θ = 35.46 and 28.5, 39.4 indicated the presence and chemical interaction of DyO and CuFeO respectively. The crystallite size was <20 nm. The model drug used in the loading and in vitro release assays was ciprofloxacin hydrochloride. Ciprofloxacin's CF stretch caused a modest peak to be seen at 1082 cm and changed in zeta potential value from 7.90 mV to 8.88 mV endorsing that the drug had been loaded onto the nanomaterial. The loading efficiency (%) of CIP onto the composite was from 25 to 30 %, calculated from optical density measurements. Different kinetic models, such as zero-order, first-order, Higuchi, Hixon-Crowell, and Korsmeyer-Peppas, were determined to confirm the drug release mechanism. The percent (%) of drug release from the surface of DyO/CuFeO/CS in PBS (pH 7.4), acidic (pH 2.2) and basic (pH 9.4) dissolution media were found to be 70, 28 and 20 %, respectively. Drug kinetics showed that mainly the release is fickian type followed "Fick's law of diffusion", slightly deviated from fickian release (dissolution-dependent system). Korsmeyer-Peppas (R 0.9773, n < 0.4) and Higuchi's (R 0.9846) models were the best for fitting controlled drug release data. The results revealed that the DyO/CuFeO/CS bio-nanocomposite has good potential for a controlled drug delivery system.