Magnetic ZnO/CdO Nanocomposite for Effective Drug Delivery System for Cancer Therapy

ZnO, ZnO/CdO, and Magnetic Ni-ZnO/CdO nanocomposite have been eco-friendly synthesized using Black Rice Husk Extract (BRHE) and water instead of hazardous chemicals and solvents. The anticancer drug Doxorubicin (Dox) was loaded on the PVA-coated biomimetic nanomaterials. The successful synthesis of the pure nanomaterials and the Dox-nanomaterial systems has been confirmed by evaluating their structural, crystalline, textural, surface, and optical properties using various characterization techniques. The Dox-nanomaterials systems were used as anticancer drugs against HEPG2 cells as a model of human cancerous cells. The in vitro Dox release was slower and more sustained from Ni-ZnO/CdO composite compared to the other individual nanomaterials, suggesting that a hydrogen bond strongly attached more Dox molecules to the surface Ni-ZnO/CdO. Moreover, the cytotoxicity investigations on the HEPG2 cell line showed that higher toxicity was obtained by Ni-doped nanocomposite, consistent with the results of in vitro release. This study provides novel magnetic Nanocarriers that can be used as anticancer drug delivery systems after more in vivo investigations on animals or clinical investigations.