Adsorption of doxorubicin hydrochloride on glutaric anhydride functionalized Fe3O4@SiO2 magnetic nanoparticles

Since Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles synthesized by plant extracts possess good bio-compatibility and superparamagnetic properties, the possibility of these could be used as a carrier in drug delivery. In this work, doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), an anti-cancer drug, loaded on glutaric anhydride-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -Glu) was investigated at varying pH values for effective drug delivery. Various factors affecting the adsorption of DOX onto the Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -Glu were examined, where the adsorption efficiency of DOX reached 92% at a concentration of 20 mg/L employing 10 mg of Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -Glu at 303 K in pH 7.4. However, the adsorption efficiency of DOX was decreased to 18% at acidic pH value down to 3.0, implicating that the drug releasing process was controlled by pH. Adsorption kinetics was fitting to pseudo-second-order and the isothermal adsorption conformed to Freundlich isotherm. The morphology and surface composition of the synthesized Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -Glu were characterized by SEM, TEM , and N 2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, revealing that the specific surface area being 62.6 m 2 /g and the size ranging from ~30 to 50 nm. The zeta potential results indicated that Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -Glu were negatively charged in various pH from 3 to 8.5. Characterizations by FTIR and UV–Vis techniques suggested that the DOX was absorbed and it can be delivered by Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 -Glu.