In this study, we propose an organic solvent-free, one-step mechanochemistry approach to engineer water-dispersible graphene oxide/superparamagnetic iron oxide (GO/SPIOs) hybrids, for biomedical applications. Although mechanochemistry has been proposed in the graphene field for applications such as drug loading, exfoliation or polymer-composite formation, this is the first study to report mechanochemistry for preparation of GO/SPIOs hybrids. The statistical design of experiment (DoE) was employed to control the process parameters. DoE has been used to control formulation processes of other types of nanomaterials. The implementation of DoE for controlling the formulation processes of graphene-based nanomaterials is, however, novel. DoE approach could be of advantage as one can tailor GO-based hybrids of predicted yields and compositions. Hybrids were characterized by TEM, AFM FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, and TGA. The dose-response magnetic resonance (MR) properties were confirmed by MR imaging of phantoms. The biocompatibility of the hybrids with A549 and J774 cell lines was confirmed by the modified LDH assay.
Keywords: DoE; SPIO; drug delivery; formulation; graphene; mechanochemistry; nanomedicine; toxicity.