Investigation of different methods for cisplatin loading using single-walled carbon nanotube

•Evaluation of cisplatin loading and release at three different complexes.•Cisplatin shows the maximum rate of release for encapsulated complexes.•Cisplatin shows the minimum rate of release for covalent complexes.•Trend of drug release of complexes is exactly different in the early and final hour.

Cisplatin as an anticancer drug is frequently used in cancer treatment, but with a lot of side effects. In this study, we investigated three different protocols of cisplatin drug loading inside and outside of single-walled carbon nanotube as a nano-platform. The drug encapsulation, electrostatic interactions, and covalent binding of cisplatin were utilized in these complexes to evaluate the capability of drug–carrier interaction in each method. All nanotube samples were dialyzed after preparation in phosphate buffer saline at acidic and neutral conditions for better simulation of tumor environments and then, the rate of drug release was determined using drug concentrations from the inside and outside of dialysis bags in the samples. Cisplatin showed the maximum and minimum rate of release for covalent and encapsulated complexes, respectively. Also, the amount of cisplatin drug release was quite different for two compounds at the beginning and at the end of dialysis. These trends of drug release in each of these drug loading approaches in different pH environments can help us to manage the optimized circulation time of cisplatin in the human body and the maximum release of drug at the target position.