pH-Controlled drug delivery with hybrid aerogel of chitosan, carboxymethyl cellulose and graphene oxide as the carrier

Abstract Hybrid aerogels of chitosan (CS), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and graphene oxide (GO) are successfully prepared by using calcium ion (Ca 2+ ) as the crosslinker. The resultant hybrid aerogels, CS/CMC/Ca 2+ /GO, are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Due to the pH sensitivity of CS and CMC, pH-controlled drug delivery with CS/CMC/Ca 2+ /GO as the carrier is investigated using 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), an effective chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of cancers, as the model drug. Finally, Higuchi model and Korsmeyer-Peppas model are used to study the release kinetics, and it reveals that the release of 5-FU from the hybrid aerogels is controlled by Fickian diffusion. Collectively, the findings demonstrate the CS/CMC/Ca 2+ /GO would be a potential material for the construction of pH-controlled drug delivery platform.