Preparation and Characterization of Magnetite/PEG Nanoparticles Combined with Curcumin for Drug Delivery Application

In this work, the synthesis of magnetite/PEG nanoparticles combined with curcumin was conducted by using a simple coprecipitation method. The samples obtained were characterized using XRD, FTIR, and VSM for their structural and magnetic properties. Meanwhile, investigation of the potential as drug delivery agents was done through the drug release test using doxorubicin. The diffraction data analysis presented the addition of curcumin slightly decreased the diffraction peak of magnetite compared to without curcumin. The crystallite sizes of the magnetite/PEG and magnetite/PEG/curcumin were 13.9 nm and 13.7 nm, respectively. The functional group of the magnetite/PEG showed the presence of Fe-O bonds at a wavenumber of 587 cm-1 and 421 cm-1 originating from magnetite. Meanwhile, C-O-C and C-H bonds were observed at wavenumbers of 1108 cm-1 and 2883 cm-1 arising from PEG. Despite Fe-O, C-O-C, and C-H bonds, in magnetite/PEG/curcumin, it was also detected C=O bond at a wavenumber of 1621 cm-1, indicating the presence of the curcumin. Regarding the magnetic properties, the saturation magnetization value of the magnetite/PEG nanoparticles decreased after adding curcumin. Interestingly, the results of the doxorubicin drug release of the magnetite/PEG and magnetite/PEG/curcumin nanoparticles showed excellent performance as drug delivery agents.