Synthesis and Characterization of Carboxymethyl Cellulose/β-Cyclodextrin/Chitosan Hydrogels and Investigating the Effect of Magnetic Nanoparticles (Fe3O4) on a Novel Carrier for a Controlled Release of Methotrexate as Drug Delivery

In this paper, pH-sensitive magnetic hydrogels were prepared from carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and chitosan (CS) without a toxic agent by a simple method as a new carrier for a controlled drug release. Magnetic (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation via in situ method under the presence of N-2 gas. The effect of magnetic (Fe3O4) nanoparticles amounts on CMC, beta-CD and CS hydrogel for drug delivery of Methotrexate (MTX) was investigated. The stability of hydrogel was evaluated using TGA, XRD, VSM, FT-IR, and FE-SEM measurements. The SEM images demonstrated the Fe3O4 distribution in the hydrogel, while XRD patterns confirmed the cubic crystalline phase of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The hysteresis loop of low magnetic CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogel and high magnetic CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogel is 6.32 and 11.6 emug(-1), respectively. The swelling manner of the CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogels was studied at a varied pH range 2-11. CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogel demonstrated slightly higher swelling amount as compared to magnetic CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogel. The prepared hydrogel showed a pH-sensitive swelling manner with great water-absorbing at pH 9. The maximum capacity of swelling in CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogel, low and high magnetic CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogels were obtained 8.8, 6.7 and 4.6 g g(-1) respectively. In vitro, MTX release experiment was performed to attain the success of this new method of magnetic CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogel for drug delivery progress. The results showed that the release percent of CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogel was more significant than the other prepared hydrogel. The maximum drug release in CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogel, low and high magnetic CMC/beta-CD/CS hydrogels were obtained 92.7, 80.4 and 58.3% at pH 7.4, respectively. Also, the MTX release investigated under an external alternating magnetic field (AMF). The studies illustrated that the response of hydrogel nanocomposite to external stimulants could be used for novel drug delivery systems.