Chitosan grafted Fe-doped WO3 decorated with gold nanoparticles for stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems

[Display omitted] •Biocompatible W0.95 Fe0.05O3-Au@C was synthesized via hydrothermal technique.•Gold functionalization improved the photo response of W0.95 Fe0.05.•The synthesized W0.95 Fe0.05O3-Au@C nanocomposite exhibited high drug release at low pH.•Dual stimuli response with pH and light further enhanced the release of Doxorubicin. The stimuli-responsive drug delivery system (DDS) has gained much attention in the field of drug carriers to avoid premature release of drugs and on-demand delivery of drugs in response to stimuli. In the present work, we have prepared WO3-Fe-Au@C nanocomposite with dual stimuli responses like pH and light for controlling the drug release. The gold nanoparticle functionalization improves the photo-active property of the material. The WO3-Fe-Au@C exhibits good biocompatibility with L929 cells. It also exhibits higher loading efficiency of the DOX with nearly 70.2%. The WO3-Fe-Au@C exhibits pH-responsive drug release, with a higher release of drug at the acidic pH (pH-5). Under visible light irradiation, the WO3-Fe-Au@C composite effectively releases the drug at acidic pH. These results indicate that WO3-Fe-Au@C can be used as a potential drug carrier for the effective release of chemotherapy drugs to the cancer environment.