Conjugation of cyclodextrin to magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles via polydopamine coating for drug delivery

In this study, a novel magnetic nanocarrier for hydrophobic drugs (β-CD-PDA-MNPs) was fabricated using surface coating of Fe3O4 nanoparticles with polydopamine (PDA) followed by functionalization with 6-thio-β-cyclodextrin (6-thio-β-CD). The obtained magnetic nanoparticles were employed to investigate their interactions with diclofenac (DCF) as a model hydrophobic drug. The resulting β-CD-PDA-MNPs were characterized by various methods including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The newly fabricated magnetic nanocarrier exhibited considerably higher drug loading capacity as compared for its analogue lacking CD ligands. Moreover, the release profile of DCF from β-CD-PDA-MNPs showed a burst release during the initial 8 h followed by the drug sustained release. Facile coating of magnetic nanoparticles with PDA was therefore a robust synthetic procedure for the conversion of the nanoparticles into a drug vehicle.