Designing a nanohybrid complex based on graphene oxide for drug delivery purposes; investigating the intermediating capability of carbohydrate polymers

The main goal of this work was to introduce an effective method to promote the bio-applicability of graphene oxide (GO) especially in drug delivery systems. In this regard, carbohydrate-rich GO nanohybrids were firstly fabricated using various polysaccharides. The primary results indicated that the stability of GO nanosheets in various environments such as acidic, basic, saline and PBS solution was interestingly enhanced by hybridizing with XA. Afterward, the graphene oxide-xanthan gum-ceftriaxone (GO-XA-Cef) nanohybrid complex was fabricated through a hybridization procedure. A throughout characterization of the prepared materials were carried out with a combination of spectroscopic (FTIR, UV–Vis, XRD and Raman spectroscopy) and microscopic (TEM, AFM and FE-SEM-EDX-MAP) techniques. Then, they were assessed in terms of antibacterial activity and cell toxicity. The results of antibacterial assays demonstrated that the GO-XA-Cef nanohybrid exhibited strong inhibition and bactericidal activity against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria at very low concentrations. The GO-XA-Cef nanocomplex exhibited acceptable cell viability up to 100 μg/mL concentration, indicating its suitable biosafety. Generally, the obtained results indicated that utilizing a carbohydrate polymer (XA) can be considered as a prosperous and efficient method to hybridize GO with incompatible materials such as antibiotics for drug delivery purposes. [Display omitted] •The XA and LBG were introduced as two promising natural stabilizers for GO.•The XA chains grafted on the surface of GO nanosheets and made them stable in various solutions and in contact with incompatible drugs.•The GO-XA-Cef nanocomplex demonstrated remarkable inhibitory and bactericidal activity, and represented excellent biosafety against fibroblast (normal) cells.