Engineering of carbon nano-onion bioconjugates for biomedical applications

Highlights: • f-CNOs/DOX embedded bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanocomposite fibers were primed by Forcespinning®. • Composite fibers showed thermosensitive and pH-responsive sustained drug release over 15 days. • Composite fibers exhibited enriched viability, tensile, degradation and thermal properties. Engineered stimuli-responsive drug delivery strategies grasp enormous potential in biomedical applications for disease treatment due to their exploited therapeutic efficiency. In the current study, we developed poly 4-hydroxyphenyl methacrylate-carbon nano-onions (PHPMA-CNOs = f-CNOs) embedded bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanocomposite fibers by Forcespinning® (FS) technology for stimuli-responsive release of cargo, using doxorubicin (DOX) as a model drug. Nanocomposite fiber system showed thermosensitive drug release and exhibited around 72 and 95% of drug release at 37 and 43 °C, respectively. A slow and prolonged DOX release was observed over a 15-day study. The amount of drug released was determined by the concentration of the DOX payload, incubation temperature, and pH of the released medium. Owing to the f-CNOs incorporation, the mechanical strength (18.23 MPa) of hybrid BSA nanocomposite fibers was enhanced significantly. Besides, in vitro degradation, water contact angles, and thermal properties of nanocomposite fibers have augmented. During the in vitro cytotoxicity assessment, nanocomposite fibers exhibited improved cell viability against human fibroblast cells. Nonetheless, the external-stimuli-dependent and sustained DOX release perhaps reduces its circumventing side effects and show potential applications in biomedical research.