Magnetic Nanocrystalline Cellulose: Azithromycin Adsorption and In Vitro Biological Activity Against Melanoma Cells

This study reports a simple methodology of obtaining magnetic nanocrystalline cellulose under very mild conditions employing only Fe 2+ as the iron source, enabling the control of the amount Fe 3 O 4 incorporated. Magnetic nanocomposites were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and Raman techniques. The adsorption results showed that the maximum of AZT adsorbed was reached at pH 3.0 using NC‧Fe 3 O 4 1:10. The adsorption efficiency is highly dependent on experimental conditions. Regarding equilibrium and adsorption kinetic, Freundlich and Pseudo-second-order models show the best adjust for the experimental data. Thermodynamic values demonstrated that adsorption is an exothermic process and occurs spontaneously. Magnetic nanoadsorbent proves to be efficient in AZT removal from the aqueous medium, avoiding filtration/centrifugation steps. The in vitro biological assays showed that magnetic nanobiopolymers exhibited biocompatibility and higher toxicity against melanoma cells. Graphical Abstract