A comparative study of 5-Fluorouracil release from chitosan/silver and chitosan/silver/MWCNT nanocomposites and their cytotoxicity towards MCF-7.

5-Fluorouracil encapsulated chitosan/silver and chitosan/silver/multiwalled carbon nanotubes were synthesized to comparatively study the release profile and cytotoxicity of the systems towards MCF-7 cell line. The triclinic structure of 5-Fluorouracil, face centered cubic structure of silver and the semi-crystalline nature of chitosan were elucidated using the XRD pattern. The XRD pattern of Chitosan/silver/multiwalled carbon nanotube consisted of (002) reflection of graphitic carbon from carbon nanotube. The evident splitting of NH2 and NH3(+) and a variation in the intensity of OH peaks in the FTIR pattern were indicative of the binding of moieties like silver, carbon nanotube and 5-Fluorouracil to chitosan. The encapsulation of 5-Fluorouracil was evident from elemental mapping and from the presence of reflections corresponding to 5-Fluorouracil in the SAED pattern. The release profile showed a prolonged release for 5-Fluorouracil encapsulated Chitosan/silver/multiwalled carbon nanotube and a better cytotoxicity with a IC50 of 50μg/ml was observed for the same.