Cefixime loaded bare and functionalized halloysite nanocarriers and their biomedical applications.

Effective drug delivery for is the foremost requirement for the complete recovery of the disease. Nanomedicine and nanoengineering has provided so many spaces and ideas for the drug delivery design, whether controlled, targeted, or sustained. Different types of nanocarriers or nanoparticles are aggressively designed for the drug delivery applications. Clay minerals are identified as a one of the potential nanocarrier for the drug delivery. Owing to their biocompatibility and very low cytotoxicity, clay minerals showing effective therapeutic applications. In the present investigation, clay mineral, i.e., Halloysite nano tubes are utilized as a nanocarrier for the delivery of antibiotic cefixime (CFX), a third-generation cephalosporin. The HNT was first functionalized with the sulfuric acid and then further treated with the 3-(aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). The drug is loaded on three different classifications of HNTs, i.e., Bare-CFX-HNT, Acid-CFX-HNT, and APTES-CFX-HNT and their comparative analysis is established. Different characterization techniques such as X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR), Transmission electron microscopy TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), adsorption studies, and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed to evaluate their chemical, structural, morphological, and thermal properties. TGA confirmed the encapsulation efficiency of Bare-CFX-HNT, Acid-CFX-HNT, and APTES-CFX-HNT as 42.65, 52.19, and 53.43%, respectively. Disk diffusion and MTT assay confirmed that the drug loaded HNTs have potential antibacterial activities and less cytotoxicity. The adsorption capacity of CFX with different HNTs are evaluated and Different adsorption and kinetic models have been discussed. Drug release studies shows that APTES-CFX-HNT showing sustained release of cefixime as compared to Bare-CFX-HNT and Acid-CFX-HNT.