Production and characterization of biocompatible nano‐carrier based on Fe3O4 for magnetically hydroxychloroquine drug delivery

Abstract

In this work, we attempted to produce a new biocompatible nano‐carrier based on the Fe3O4 nanoparticles for drug delivery applications. The release profile of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was evaluated and the nano‐carrier was characterized using Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X‐ray, X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and vibration‐sample magnetometer. Specifically, maximum adsorption of HCQ was achieved in pH = 7, contact time 15 minutes, and environment temperature. Kinetics and mechanism of HCQ release were investigated using suitable mathematical models. The isotherm results demonstrated that the adsorption of HCQ onto the nano‐carrier was well fit to the Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum adsorption capacity for HCQ was 1.27 (mg g−1). Moreover, based on the RL value (0.06), the adsorption procedure was favorable. HCQ releasing was 75% in the simulated human blood environment (pH = 7.4) at 37°C within 5 hours. The release behavior of nano‐carrier can be described by the Korsmeyer‐Peppas model and a Fickian diffusion mechanism occurred (n = 0.5, R2 = 0.9777).