Eco-friendly synthesis of surface grafted Carbon nanotubes from sugarcane cubes for development of prolonged release drug delivery platform

Authors

• Rahul Narkhede ¹
• Mahesh More ²
• Swapnil Patil ¹
• Pravin Patil ³
• Ashwini Patil ⁴
• Prashant Deshmukh ²

1. Post Graduate Department of Pharmaceutics, H. R. Patel Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Shirpur, Dhule -425405 (M. S.), India.
2. Department of Pharmaceutics, Dr. Rajendra Gode College of Pharmacy, Malkapur, Dist – Buldhana (M.S.) India - 443 101.
3. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, H. R. Patel Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Shirpur, Dhule -425405 (M. S.), India.
4. Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, R.C.Patel Arts, Science, and Commerce College, Shirpur, Dhule -425405 (M. S.) India.

Abstract

Surface grafting of nanocarriers could modulate their properties and characteristics. As carbon nanotubes synthesis is a very tricky process and requires high-end methods, hence the present investigation was aimed to develop an eco-friendly method for synthesis carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and subsequent surface grafting for enhanced drug delivery application. The present study elaborates two-step chemical modifications; wherein the first step is catalytic cleavage of natural precursor in the presence of ferrocene and the second step involve chemical grafting of Acyclovir (ACV) as a model drug to understand the drug release behaviour. The catalytic cleavage of sugarcane cubes (natural precursor) was carried out in a closed copper tube, which prevents oxidation and results in a conversion of tubular nanostructures to amorphous carbon. The covalent attachment of ACV on purified CNTs (fCNTs) was done using carbodiimide chemistry. The preliminary Uv-Vis absorbance spectra defined at 260 nm was arised due to π-π* stacking of aromatic C-C bonds. The Fourier Transforms Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated the hydroxyl stretch at 3300 cm^-1 while amide I bond formation was observed at 1672 cm^-1. The XRD spectra confirmed successful synthesis of CNTs. The calculated average crystallite size (Scherer equation) of synthesized CNTs was found to be 42.84 and 44.45 nm; it was also in accordance with the morphological observation as confirmed simultaneously using SEM analysis. The covalently attached ACV was released up to 80% during 8h of in vitro drug release study. The surface grafting potential of CNTs was found to be promising compared to other nanomaterials.

Keywords

• Amorphous Carbon
• Acyclovir
• Carbodiimide Chemistry
• Natural Precursor
• Purification