Microwave-assisted and one-step synthesis of PEG passivated fluorescent carbon dots from gelatin as an efficient nanocarrier for methotrexate delivery

Abstract

A green and simple process for preparing the polyethylene glycol passivated fluorescent carbon dots (CDs-PEG) have been studied by a microwave pyrolysis method, using gelatin and PEG as starting materials. This method is very effective for development of carbon-based quantum dots from gelatin with high quantum yield (QY). The synthesized CDs-PEG were found to emit blue photoluminescence (PL) with a maximum QY of 34%. At the following research, we investigated the effect of the presence of PEG on PL intensity, and the result showed that CDs-PEG becomes stronger PL properties than pure CDs from gelatin. The synthesized CDs-PEG were characterized by FTIR, TEM, UV–vis, PL, zeta potential and XRD analyses. The anticancer performance of developed CDs-PEG was evaluated by in vitro tests such as MTT assay and fluorescence microscopy analyses. The examination of CDs-PEG as an anti-cancer drug nanocarrier for methotrexate (MTX) illustrated a better antitumor efficacy than free MTX due to its enhanced nuclear delivery in vitro, which resulting in highly effective tumour growth inhibition and improving targeted cancer therapy in clinical medicine.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Microwave pyrolysis
• carbon dots
• gelatin
• photoluminescence
• methotrexate delivery

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Authors gratefully acknowledge the University of Tabriz and the University of South Carolina for the financial support for this research.