Potential-modulated release of ceftriaxone using chitosan hydrogel-based composite involving ordered mesoporous carbon and graphene

We report on the successful release-modulation of ceftriaxone (CEF) by an applied potential on a chitosan hydrogel-based composite. Here, the performance of chitosan (CHIT)-based composites were evaluated on glassy carbon electrode (GC), GC-ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) and Graphene (Gr), which offer attractive features such as good electronic conductivity and effectiveness in delivering electroactive surface area. Ceftriaxone  was selected as an indicator of cephalosporins as a model drug. Besides this, based on the fact that CEF has three pKa, we carefully studied the electronic structures, hardness, and HOMO-LUMO gaps of deprotonated forms, for the first time, using DFT-B3LYP/6-31G* method. The optimized structures of the anions 1, 2, and 3 implied that the proton (H+), located in an electronic sponge, changes its position from -COO-, in anion 1 to -NH3+ in anions 2 and 3. Due to its porous morphology and high surface area, the prepared OMCs/CHIT film found to have a significantly higher capability in the time-controlled release of the CEF and prevention of its fast depletion into the aqueous medium, compared to GR/CHIT and GC/CHIT films.