Preparation, characterization, optimization and application of organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposite material

Curcumin is a natural polyphenol found in turmeric (Curcuma longa) roots and exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic activities. Curcumin is a pharmaceutically interesting therapeutic agent due to its extraordinary biological properties. Despite these promising biomedical properties, clinical efficacy and bioavailability are low due to the low solubility of free curcumin molecules in water. Therefore, it is essential to provide the drug with an appropriate delivery system to increase its solubility and biocompatibility. In this study, it is aimed to develop a carbon-based molecularly imprinted nanocomposite drug delivery system for the specific binding and controlled release of curcumin by utilizing the superior properties of nanocomposite materials and the superior properties of molecularly imprinted polymers such as high selectivity, mechanical stability and reusability. For this purpose, CTS-DES-FUL@MIP nanocomposite prepared using chitosan and deep eutectic solvent as functional monomers and fullerene was designed with experimental design and synthesized according to miniemulsion polymerization. Eight variables (chitosan amount, fullerene amount, SDS volume, mixing speed, temperature, crosslinker amount, hexadecane amount and DES amount) affecting the synthesis parameters were scanned with the Plackett-Burman design and the parameters that are important for the adsorption of curcumin were determined. These parameters were then optimized by the response surface methodology. In addition, the optimization of adsorption parameters and adsorption performance were investigated in order to determine the specific binding of CTS-DES-FUL@MIP nanocomposite synthesized under optimized conditions. The controlled release of curcumin from the CTS-DES-FUL@MIP nanocomposite was investigated by incubation in simulated gastrointestinal fluids. Release from CTS-DES-FUL@MIP nanocomposite were 96.90%, after 120 hours. Based on this, it can be said that the long-term release occurs due to the highly specific interactions between curcumin and the functional monomers of the CTS-DES-FUL@MIP nanocomposite due to the imprinting process. As a result, it can be said that the synthesized curcumin-imprinted polymer can be an effective carrier for curcumin.