Synthesis of cationic β-cyclodextrin functionalized silver nanoparticles and their drug-loading applications

Silver nanoparticles have attracted great attention owing to their distinct physicochemical properties, which inspire the development of their synthesis methodology and their potential biomedical applications. In this study, a novel cationic β-cyclodextrin (C-β-CD) containing a quaternary ammonium group and amino group was applied as a reducing agent as well as a stabilizing agent to prepare C-β-CD modified silver nanoparticles (CβCD-AgNPs). Besides, based on the inclusion complexation between drug molecules and C-β-CD, the application of CβCD-AgNPs in drug loading was explored by the inclusion interaction with thymol. The formation of AgNPs was confirmed by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the prepared CβCD-AgNPs were well dispersed with particle sizes between 3–13 nm, and the zeta potential measurement result suggested that the C-β-CD played a role in preventing their aggregation in solution. (1)H Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed the encapsulation and reduction of AgNPs by C-β-CD. The drug-loading action of CβCD-AgNPs was demonstrated by UV-vis and headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS), and the results of TEM images showed the size increase of nanoparticles after drug loading.