While cancer remains a significant health concern for humans, and is a serious and life-threatening disease, this research introduces an innovative drug delivery strategy employing platinum-doped carbon quantum dots (Pt@CQD) decorated with chalcogenide (O, S, Te) atoms for targeted delivery of the anti-inflammatory drug lapachone (LPC), which was analysed through density functional theory (DFT) at the ωB97XD/def2svp level of theory. Adsorption studies indicated exothermic behaviour, with negative energies for LPC_Pt@CQD, LPC_OdecPt@CQD, LPC_SdecPt@CQD, and LPC_TedecPt@CQD with corresponding values of −25.549 kcal/mol, −24.583 kcal/mol, −24.629 kcal/mol and − 24.419 kcal/mol respectively, indicating their chemisorption strengths. The quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and non-covalent interaction (NCI) analyses highlight weak and partial interactions among the complexes. Significantly, the engineered systems exhibit notable drug-release properties, especially LPC_OdecPt@CQD, where we observed a considerably slight physisorption and an adsorption energy of 10.277 kcal/mol and a protonation energy gap (ΔE) of 2.648 eV which balances effective adsorption and the ability to release the drug when needed. Furthermore, molecular dynamics and reactivity analysis revealed high stability and biological activity respectively among the designed systems, making them promising candidates for therapeutic delivery and holding potential for further in vivo and clinical investigations.
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