Microwave induced synthesis of ZnO nanorods and their efficiency as a drug carrier as well as catalysts with high photodegradation capacity

Abstract

newline ABSTRACT newlineIn the present study, we report the microwave induced synthesis of fluorescent zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods and their usage as photocatalyst and a cargo materials to carry hydrobhobic drug, quercetin. We employ the metal ion-ligand coordination bond to load quercetin onto ZnO surface, forming quercetin-loaded ZnO (ZnO/QR) nanorods, which exhibit ph sensitive release behaviour. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy have been used to investigate the morphology of these ZnO nanorods. X- ray diffraction analysis showed several diffraction peaks correspond to a hexagonal wurtzite structure for ZnO nanorods. The optical absorbance of synthesized ZnO nanorods was checked by acquisition of UV spectrum, which showed a distinct absorption band from 361 to 395 nm for the nanoparticles was also verified from the Fourier transform infrared spectrum, which showed a strong absorption band specific to the Zn-O stretching vibration. The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles also showed fluorescence emission at around 550 nm when excited at 350 nm. ZnO/QR nanorods displayed superior drug-loading content (42%) and loading efficiency (72.4%). Moreover, quercetin was released faster from ZnO/QR under acidic conditions pH 5.5 than under physiological conditions pH 7.4. The internalization of the ZnO nanorods into cancer cells has been observed by fluorescence microscopic analysis. In Vitro assay showed that ZnO/QR nanorods exhibited higher cancer cell proliferation inhibition compared with free quercetin. Besides, Our synthesized ZnO nanorods showed excellent photodegradation efficiency of the organic dye, methyl red. All these result highlight the synthesis of ZnO nanorods under microwave irradiation, which can be used for a promising therapeutic agent for biomazing and drug delivery purpose as well as for catalytic applications with high photodegradation capacity. newlineKeywords: Anticancer; Drug delivery; Photocatalyst; Quercetin; Zinc oxide nanorods