A New Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery System: Polymeric Ionic Liquid Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide

Graphene oxide (GO) has been one of the most proposed nanocarriers for drug delivery in the past decade. Here we synthesized a novel reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposite (RGO-PILs), functionalized by polymeric ionic liquids (PILs), which exhibited excellent loading capacity, favourable biocompatibility and good solubility as a nanocarrier for doxorubicin (DOX). The characters of RGO and RGO-PILs such as zeta potential, particle size, loading rate, entrapment efficiency and release profile were all investigated. The encapsulation efficiency of DOX for RGO-PILs was estimated to be around 71.9 +/- 1.9%. The release rate of DOX within 2160 min in pH 7.4 and pH 4.8 were 23 and 43%, respectively. No bursting effect was shown in the release profiles of RGO-PILs/DOX. As a novel nanocarrier, the RGO-PILs exhibited high drug loading and delivery capicity, favourable control-released property and pH sensitive releasing mechanism, which is desirable for therapeutic applications.