PREPARATION OF CURCUMIN CONJUGATED ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Nanoparticles have been widely prepared and used in different domains, due to their unique optical properties, small sizes and relative structure. Among these nanoparticles, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have been developed and investigated to be applicable in various field. In this work, the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles was carried out based on simple green method with optimization of the reaction parameters by taking into consideration the best flow rate of potassium hydroxide (KOH) for the formation of ZnO, under the appropriate pH, and at the proper temperature. Curcumin was used as a selective conjugated reagent to increase the solubility and to enhance the activity of ZnO NPs. The obtained nanoparticles were coated with chitosan polymer in order to increase their stability. The formed nanoparticles were characterized via UV-Visible, Fluorescence, XRD, TGA and SEM. The purpose of this study is to establish the creation of the best nanoparticles and utilize them in numerous applications. First, their anticancer activity was monitored with MCF-7 breast cancer cells and Capan-1 pancreatic cancer cells. These nanoparticles were remarked to hinder up to 90% cancer cells proliferation after 72 hours. Second, zinc curcumin oxide nanoparticles coated with chitosan polymer (Zn(Cur)O-Chi) played the role of outstanding nanosensors for the detection of ascorbic acid (AA) in a fast, easy, stable, and selective way. As the concentration of AA increases (0-10 mM), the emission intensity was noticed to increase as well. The LOD attained was equal to 36 M. The recovery range was between 94-100.6%. Third, the adsorption of different anionic and cationic organic dyes onto the surface of Zn(Cur)O NPs was tested with kinetic and isothermal studies. In a first place a full study of the adsorption of congo red using Zn(Cur)O NPs as adsorbent was established. The impact of the adsorbent dose, the concentration of the organic dye, and the pH of the solution were varied and adjusted in a specific range. It was detected that the adsorption improves with increasing the quantity of the nanoparticles and with reducing the concentration of the organic dye. Therefore, the various adsorption sites will reach saturation. Moreover, an acidic medium enhanced the adsorption process of congo red. In a second place, the adsorption of different anionic and cationic dyes was developed and the effect of the pH was validated. The kinetics study was monitored and it was found that the adsorption process follows a pseudo 2nd order kinetic model.