Direct surface modification of mesoporous silica nanoparticles by DBD plasma as a green approach to prepare dual-responsive drug delivery system

•Mesoporous silica nanoparticle was successfully synthesized from rice husk as agricultural waste.•The mesoporous silica nanoparticle's surface was modified by dielectric barrier discharge plasma as a green approach in uniform modification.•The surface modification was performed with two methods: i) direct mode, ii) direct hybrid mode.•The polymeric pH and temperature-responsive shell were grafted on the modified mesoporous silica nanoparticle surface by free radical polymerization technique.•The nanocarrier, which was modified by dielectric barrier discharge plasma, especially by the direct hybrid mode, had higher toxicity and apoptosis-inducing on the MCF-7 cell line compared with a free anti-cancer drug. This paper deals with uniformly surface modification of mesoporous silica nanoparticles by applying dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma as an energy-efficient and green approach. First, the mesoporous silica nanoparticles were synthesized from rice husk (RMSN-D) as an economic and biocompatible natural source. The surface modification stage by DBD plasma was performed in two methods: i) Direct mode and ii) Direct hybrid mode. The structure and physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, Fe-SEM/EDS, TEM, EDS, BET, and HNMR techniques. Doxorubicin (Dox) was exploited as a model drug, and in-vitro Dox release was investigated. The biocompatibility of nanocarriers was accepted by MTT test on HFF-2 cell line as a normal modal cell. For the advanced cellular study, apoptosis of the MCF-7 cell line treated with Dox-loaded nanocarriers was investigated by flow cytometric analysis and morphological study by fluorescent microscopy. The results showed that Dox-loaded RMSN-D modified by direct hybrid mode induced a high level of apoptosis in the MCF-7 cells. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles are promising nanomaterial in various fields, especially in drug delivery and cancer treatment. In this study, mesoporous silica nanoparticles were first synthesized from rice husk as an economic and biocompatible source. To enhance drug delivery capacity, the surface of them was uniformly modified by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma as a green approach to prepare dual pH and temperature-responsive drug delivery system. Doxorubicin, as an anti-cancer model drug, was loaded into the nanocarrier. It can be released at the cancerous site and inducing apoptosis due to the stimuli-responsive property of nanocarrier. [Display omitted