Host-guest mediated controlled release of 5-fluorouracil by CQD integrated starch based smart tripolymeric hydrogel.

Nowadays, the controlled release of drugs by nanostructured polymeric nanocomposite hydrogels with host-guest mechanism is a big challenge. Herein, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is taken as a model drug and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) is employed as host for the formation of inclusion complex. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) prepared from red rose petals are incorporated within the matrix of polyacrylic acid/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)/starch to fabricate the PPSC nanocomposite hydrogel. FTIR, XPS, FESEM, HRTEM and XRD techniques are implemented to investigate the spectroscopic and microscopic characterization of hydrogels. The high swelling capacity of PPSC nanocomposite hydrogel exceeding 2500% is due to the porous nature. Further, PPSC hydrogel shows strong antibacterial effects against E. coli and S. aureus and displays over 75% cell viability on both HCT 116 and MCF-7 cell line, denoting the good biocompatible nature. Moreover, drug administration scrutinization of β-FU (β-CD and 5-FU inclusion complex) loaded PPSC exhibits a sustainable prolong release profile, with only 8.9% of the drug released over 6 h. Kinetic analysis of drug administration profile is fitted with the Peppas-Sahlin model for prediction of release mechanism.