Novel chitosan/γ-alumina/carbon quantum dot hydrogel nanocarrier for targeted drug delivery

Curcumin (CUR) is among the most natural and effective antitumor drugs for cancer treatment. These drugs have low solubility and short half-lives that reduce their effectiveness in drug release systems. Herein, a hydrogel nanocarrier containing chitosan (CS), alumina (γ-Al2O3), and carbon quantum dots (CQDs) was prepared by the water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double nanoemulsion method. DLS revealed a nanocarrier size of 227 nm, with a zeta potential of −37.8 mV, which corroborates its stability. FE-SEM showed its quasi-spherical shape, FT-IR and XRD confirmed the presence of all the components in the nanocomposite and gave information about the intermolecular interactions between them and the crystalline nature of the nanocarrier, respectively. The drug loading (48 %) and entrapment efficiency (86 %) were higher than those reported previously for other CUR nanocarriers. The drug release profile revealed a controlled and stable release, and a pH-sensitive behavior, with faster CUR release in an acid environment. The breast cancer cell line was examined by cytotoxicity and cell apoptosis analyses. The results showed that the slow release over time and the programmed cell death were due to interactions between CUR and the nanocarrier. Considering the results obtained herein, CS/γAl2O3/CQDs/CUR can be considered as a promising new nanosystem for tumor treatment.