Characterisation of carboxylate nanocrystal cellulose /silver nanoparticles from eucalyptus pulp and its antitumour activity

Abstract Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) has a high prospect in the biomedical field due to its favourable biocompatibility, stability, and modifiable properties, which render it potentially useful as a template for silver deposition nanoparticles (Ag NPs). In this research work, the aim was to prepare AgNPs on carboxylate nanocrystal cellulose (cCNC) in a minimised process and decrease the number of chemical reagents and with a stable anchor and controllable release Ag + by hydrothermal reaction. The controlled release of Ag+ was also determined. The anticancer activity of Ag-cCNC on HCT116 (Human colon cancer cells) and SK-MEL-2 (Human Skin Melanoma cells) were investigated. Silver nanoparticles were uniformly deposited onto cCNC with a 28.0% yield and a particle size of ∼15 nm. The release rate of silver ions was monitored for 32 days by ICOES analysis. It was found that Ag-cCNC induced silver ions to release slowly, which displayed a controllable release of silver ions with a rate of 0.1-0.2% per 2 days and a longterm release of 245 days. Also, Ag-cCNC showed anticancer activity against both HCT 116 (Human colon cancer cell) and SK-MEL-2 (Human Skin Melanoma cell) at 35±4.04% and 20±7.68% cell viability, respectively. Ag-cCNC showed promising higher 15% anticancer HCT 116 efficacy than cisplatin, but it was lower 18% in anticancer SK-MEL-2. This study provides a novel, sustainable, simple and straightforward way with environmentally friendly to produce and use natural composite material from Eucalyptus as an antitumour drug.