Natural carbon incorporated ZnO/C and ZnO: Sustainable nanomaterials for antioxidant, toxicity and cytotoxicity investigations

Abstract

The innovative synthesis of ZnO/C nanocomposites and pristine ZnO nanoparticles using an ethanol extract of Anodendron parviflorum through various environmentally mediated approaches has been reported for the first time. The oil bath and blue LED mediated synthesis led to the synthesis of O–ZnO/C and B–ZnO/C nanocomposites, whereas the microwave-assisted synthesis yielded pristine M − ZnO nanoparticles. The biosynthesized nanomaterials were analyzed through UV, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, EDX, XRD, AFM, TGA, FTIR, XPS, Raman and zeta potential. The sizes of the O–ZnO/C, B–ZnO/C, and M − ZnO nanomaterials were 14.8, 24.49 and 16.39 nm in XRD. FE-SEM images revealed the spherical morphology of the nanomaterials. XRD, EDX, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of carbon derived from the plant in B–ZnO/C and O–ZnO/C, and its absence in M − ZnO nanoparticles. The O–ZnO/C and B–ZnO/C nanocomposites exhibited better antioxidant properties than M-ZnO. Biocompatibility studies revealed that the nanocomposites were more biocompatible than the M-ZnO. Furthermore, the cytotoxic studies showed potent anticancer properties of B–ZnO/C and O–ZnO/C compared to M − ZnO nanomaterials with IC50 values of 28.1 ± 1.3, 39.7 ± 2.5, and 69 ± 2.6 μg/mL for HeLa cell lines and 23.6 ± 2, 30.5 ± 1.9, and 39.3 ± 2.2 μg/mL against A549 cell lines. Therefore, novel nanocomposites are potential pharmaceutical agents for various cancer therapeutics.