Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of the toxicity, drug release ability and antibacterial capacity of nanocomposites of polyethylene glycol and functionalized carbon nanotubes

The design of drug nanocarriers is a topic of current interest. To achieve a desirable efficiency, the preparation of a new nanocarrier must tune multiple complicated factors. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has demonstrated the ability to evade biological barriers of living matter. In this work, the synthesis of nanocomposites prepared with PEG and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) functionalized with amine ending groups (named CNTsamine), which could be used as nanocarriers is described. A thorough characterization of prepared nanocomposites using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is presented. To explore the possibility of using the PEG/CNTsamine nanocomposites as suitable carriers its toxicity to HeLa cells was evaluated, their ability to release the anti-cancer drug cisplatin was determined, and their capacity to inhibit the growth of bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli as well as the fungus Candida albicans was studied. Although the PEG/CNTsamine nanocomposites have the ability to release the drug cisplatin with better efficacy than pure PEG, the evidence that produces a toxic effect on HeLa cells limit their practical use as suitable nanocarriers.