Study of graphitic materials for drug delivery.

Abstract

In modern medicine, the development of new and efficient drug delivery systems is one of the most significant challenges facing science. Various drug carriers have been developed that protect the transported drug from hostile physiological environments and release it continuously at the site of application. For this purpose, materials based on graphene oxide (GO) are widely used, as GO is used as a precursor to suitably functionalized graphene. GO can be easily exfoliated into a few layers in a stable suspension in water, due to a large amount of hydrophilic oxygenated groups present in its structure. These groups also allow both covalent and non-covalent functionalization with polymers of well-known biocompatibility, and this improve the stability of GO in physiological solutions, are useful in drug transport and decrease its cytotoxicity. One of these polymers is chitosan (CS), which responds to pH by changing its solubility, is biocompatible and mucoadhesive. It also displays an impressive range of therapeutic functions such as hemostatic, antimicrobial, antitumor, and anti-inflammatory activity. Moreover, the GO-CS composites have superior mechanical properties and controllable drug delivery, making them a very promising drug delivery device.