Investigations of cadmium ion-doped L-histidine hydrochloride crystal growth, vibration, optical, thermal, SHG, and MTT assays for biological and optoelectronic applications

Semiorganic nonlinear optical single crystal of cadmium (II) ion-doped L-histidine hydrochloride (Cd 2+ :LHHCl) compound was successfully grown by slow evaporation method at room temperature. The grown single crystal was found to be an orthorhombic crystal system which is identified as enantiomorphic, thus, satisfying the requirement for the second harmonic generation (SHG) activity of the title crystal. FTIR study confirms that the rare-earth metal Cd 2+ and functional groups in the Cd 2+ :LHHCl single crystal. In the transmittance spectrum, the lower cut-off wavelength is found to be 256 nm for Cd 2+ :LHHCl single crystal. The cut-off wavelength of Cadmium (II)-ion-doped L-histidine hydrochloride crystals is lower than pure L-histidine hydrochloride. In the EDAX spectrum, the weight percentage and atomic percentage of C, N, O, Cl, and Cd (II) in the title crystal are clearly found. The presence of Cd (II) is confirmed by an intense peak which is observed with an atomic percentage of 0.3%, which indicates the formation of Cd 2+ :LHHCl single crystal. The thermal stability of the grown crystal is investigated by thermo-gravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA). Semiorganic Cd 2+ :LHHCl single crystal was thermally stable up to 155 °C for optoelectronic device application. Nonlinear optical property of powdered Cd 2+ :LHHCl crystal was evaluated by the modified Kurtz-Perry powder technique. The powdered sample was densely filled in a needle-shaped glass capillary tube. The Nd:YAG laser beam of fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm is used. The relative SHG efficiency of Cd 2+ :LHHCl is 3 times greater than that of standard KDP. The cytotoxic activity against women’s breast cancer cells was determined by MTT assay and various concentrations of 12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 μg/ml of MCF-7 cells. Apoptotic cells were studied using AO/EtBr stain. Our results refer to the therapeutic role of grown crystals in breast cancer. The results of this study suggest that the grown crystal could be used for wide medical applications in the future and offer a new drug instead of chemotherapy in the treatment of various types of cancer disease.