Assessment of antioxidant and cytotoxicity activities against A-549 lung cancer cell line by synthesized reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles mediated by Camellia sinensis.

Camellia sinensis (green tea leaves) which acts as a reducing agent was used for the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) to obtain reduced graphene oxide (RGO). Anionic surfactant SDS was used to enhance the stability of synthesized reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles. Characterized reduced graphene oxide nanoparticle grain size was calculated to be 3.92 nm from the X-ray diffraction method, whereas zeta potential was measured - 35.23 ± 5.45 mV at room temperature. Antioxidant and cell cytotoxicity against A-549 lung carcinoma cells were also studied. Phytochemical content of Camellia sinensis imparts feasible DPPH activity of 85.98 ± 2.49% against RGO, whereas ABTS scavenging activity was found to be 88.87 ± 1.74% followed by measurement of the total phenolic content of 842 ± 13.33 µg/gm. RGO at concentration 400 µg/ml showed an optimum level of hemolysis at pH 7.4 (4.92 ± 1.20%) than pH 5.6 (11.15 ± 0.03%). Cytotoxicity activity studied by MTT assay of RGO on A-549 lung carcinomas cells was compared with drug doxorubicin. The bandgap energy of RGO was calculated to be 3.97 eV from absorption data, hence reveals the generation of oxidative stress in the A-549 lung cancer cell line. Thus, the surfactant and phytochemicals found in Camellia sinensis enhanced the stability of RGO, thereby providing enough energy to destabilize the target cells without affecting healthy cells, hence suggests its role in therapeutics application. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-03015-z. © King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2021.