Glutamic Acid-Coated Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Anticancer Activity

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a method to enhance the compatibility of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) produced from guava leaf extract by modifying the nanoparticle surface with L-glutamic acid. The Glu-coated ZnO material was subjected to characterization using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray scattering spectroscopy (XRD), UV-Vis spectroscopy, and electron energy scattering spectroscopy (EDS). The results corroborated the attachment of glutamic acid to the surface of the nanoparticle. The thermal density analysis (TGA) results indicate that the Glu-coated ZnO material contains around 8.998% organic content. The morphology and size of nanoparticles were assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering spectroscopy (DLS) both before and after modification. The findings demonstrate that the bare ZnO nanoparticles had an average size of around 25.32 nm, but the Glu-coated ZnO nanoparticles measure 41.88 nm. Their zeta values are − 9.05 mVs and − 18.6 mV, respectively. The anti-cancer effect of ZnO nanoparticles coated with glutamic acid was evaluated on various cell lines including HeLa (cervical cancer), A549 (lung cancer), and MCF7 (breast cancer). The findings demonstrated a significant enhancement in the anti-cancer efficacy of ZnO NPs with the application of Glu coating on their surface. The IC50 values of Glu-coated ZnO for the Hela, A549, and MCF7 cancer cell lines are 40.43 µg/mL, 37.20 µg/L, and 44.23 µg/mL, respectively. The findings indicate that the utilization of Glu-coated ZnO material holds significant promise in the field of cancer treatment.