Synthesis and characterization of a clay-alginate nanocomposite for the controlled release of 5-Flurouracil

Abstract

The scope of the present study is the synthesis and characterization of a nanocomposite based on natural bentonite clay and sodium alginate as a drug delivery system. The nanocomposite was prepared by the grafted copolymerization of alginate, acrylamide and modified bentonite. The characterization of the nanocomposite was carried out using FTIR, XRD, SEM, TG/DTA, Zeta potential, DLS and TEM analysis. A hydrophilic anticancer drug 5-Flurouracil was chosen as the model drug to investigate the loading and release of the nanocomposite. Swelling profile study revealed that maximum swelling was occurred at pH 6.8. The fitting of Peppas's kinetic model was analysed at pH 6.8 and the release kinetics was found to be more fitted to Korsemeyer-Peppas kinetic model having R2 = 0.9840. Human Colorectal Adenocarcinoma cells-HT 29 was used for analysing cell viability. The percentage of cell viability decreases from 46.65% to 20.12% when the concentration increases from 2.5 μg/ml to 10 μg/ml. As an alternative to in-vivo models the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) study was conducted. The study showed the better biocompatibility and non-toxicity of the nanocomposite.