A tragacanth gum-infused graphitic carbon nitride/cellulose nanohydrogel for controlled lornoxicam release kinetics

Abstract

Hydrogel biomaterials are increasingly utilized as drug delivery systems due to their unique properties. In this study, graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) was synthesized from urea and combined with cellulose (Cel) and tragacanth gum (TG) to form a composite hydrogel (Cel/g-CN/TG) using solvent casting and sonication. Structural characterization was done using various methods, including Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta potential (ZP) analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hydrogels exhibited a ZP of 2.43 mV, a non-crystalline structure, and an average particle size of 200.33 nm. The drug lornoxicam (LXM) was incorporated into the hydrogel to examine loading (% LE) and release efficiencies (% RE), with findings indicating significant effects of time, drug concentration, pH, and temperature on loading, and pH and temperature on release. The highest % RE values were 63.025% at pH 7.4 and 64.24% at 50 °C. The hydrogels demonstrated high cell viability (95–100%) and biocompatibility, along with good swelling ability under various conditions. LXM release followed the Peppas–Sahlin model, showing Fickian diffusion behaviour. Overall, the Cel/g-CN/TG hydrogel showed pH and temperature-responsive characteristics for effective LXM delivery.