Novel graphene oxide loaded sodium alginate hydrogels cross-linked with tetraethyl orthosilicate for cephradine release analysis

In this work, novel graphene oxide (GO) loaded (0-40 mg), sodium alginate (Na-Alg) hydrogels were prepared using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a silane cross-linker and then characterized by FTIR and XRD analysis, TGA and SEM analysis, as well as swelling test in water, ionic and buffer solutions. The hydrogels were then tested for cytotoxicity and antimicrobial analysis in order to check their suitability for biomedical applications. FTIR and XRD analysis proved the existence of polymer, cross-linker and additive. TGA analysis confirmed that the thermal stability of the hydrogel increased with the increase in GO loading. SEM analysis revealed the increase in surface cracks with GO loading. The prepared hydrogels indicated maximum water absorption at pH 7. Out of all the hydrogels, the hydrogel having 10 mg GO was found to be the best performing with respect to swelling and cytotoxic analysis and was selected for further drug delivery testing using 100 mg of cephradine (CPD) at pH 7. The controlled release analysis of CPD showed that the whole drug was released in 100 min in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution. Hence, the hydrogel containing 10 mg GO was proved to be the promising candidate for controlled drug release owing to good swelling properties and thermal stability as well as non-toxic and antimicrobial properties.