Construction, pH-responsive drug release and in vitro cytotoxicity of Ni@C nanotubes

[email protected] magnetic nanotubes surrounded by a carbon shell with thick of 10 nm were constructed using nickel nanotubes as core by glucose-solvothermal-method. The morphology, structure, composition, magnetic property, drug release behavior, in-vitro cytotoxicity and antitumor efficacy of the as-prepared [email protected] nanotubes were studied by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectrum, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating-sample magnetometer, UV–vis spectroscopy, CCK-8 assays and flow cytometry. The results indicated that the as-prepared [email protected] nanotubes had typical hollow core-shell structure, good magnetic property, pH-responsive drug-release functionality and better antitumor activity, compared with nickel nanotubes. It presented low in-vitro cytotoxicity originated in cell apoptosis by S-phase arrest, which made the magnetic [email protected] nanotubes potentially application in biomedicine.