Magnetic Graphene oxide incorporated alginate hydrogel beads as a potential Nanocarrier

This research aims to synthesize pH responsive magnetic graphene oxide (MGO) incorporated alginate hydrogel beads for controlled drug delivery using ionotropic gelation. MGO was prepared using hydrothermal method which was embedded in alginate beads. FTIR, XRD, FESEM, TEM, VSM, TGA, and BET characterization showed that the material had a porous structure with a surface area of 145 m²/g and pore radius of 3.5 nm, superparamagnetic behavior of 28.1 emu/g, and was thermally stable up to 350°C. A model drug quercetin was loaded with 25.8% efficiency and showed pH dependent release (83% at pH 7.4 in 200 min, 45% at pH 2.1). Stability tests showed the unattached quercetin had less than 3% weight loss in the range of pH 2.0 to 12.0. The HFF-2 cells showed greater than 80% viability at 140 µg/mL with strong anti-cancer effects on Caco-2 cells with decreased viability less than 50% at 200 µg/mL. The results obtained demonstrates that the magnetic hydrogel beads have biocompatibility and act as nanocarriers for targeted delivery of therapeutics.