Synthesis and characterization of basil seed mucilage coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles as a drug carrier for the controlled delivery of cephalexin

Abstract

A novel drug delivery system, loaded the drug cephalexin on the basil seed mucilage coated magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@BSM-CPX) was prepared and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Furier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Anti-bacterial, and Specific Surface (BET). By comparing the size of the uncoated nanoparticles (12 nm) and the size of the coated magnetite nanoparticles (6 nm), it was found that with the mucilage coating being put on the magnetite nanoparticles, the size of the nanoparticle cores has also decreased. The optimum pH results showed that the higher adsorption capacity occurs when cephalexin is cationic at pH 2.5 because the NH₃⁺ group of cephalexin interacts better with negative functional groups of the basil seed mucilage. Disk Diffusion Anti-Bacterial test showed that the loading of CPX on the Fe₃O₄@BSM nanocarrier, not only does not have any negative effects on the structure and performance of the drug, but also increases the antibacterial properties of CPX. Furthermore, the in vitro release of Fe₃O₄@BSM-CPX nanocomposites showed an initial burst release in the first 18 h, followed by a more gradual and sustained release for 120 h.