Green synthesized Fe3O4@CD nanocomposites using Acacia caesia leaves: In vitro biological properties and cytotoxicity assessment

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to prepare carbon dots (CDs) from Acacia caesia leaves and use them to synthesize Magnetite@CD (Fe₃O₄@CD) nanocomposites (NCs). The absorbance spectrum, photoluminescence, and surface functional groups were revealed in the optical and morphological properties analysis, which confirmed the successful formation of Fe₃O₄@CD NCs. Electron microscopy showed that the NCs had an almost spherical shape, with an average particle diameter of 11.02 nm. A vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) also confirmed the superparamagnetic behavior of Fe₃O₄@CD NCs behaved in a superparamagnetic way. This study also observed effective in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxicity properties, all with low inhibitory concentration 50 (IC₅₀) values. However, neither Candida albicans nor Aspergillus niger showed any potential antifungal activity by both CDs and Fe₃O₄@CD NCs. The synthesized Fe₃O₄@CD NCs demonstrate significant potential for biomedical applications due to their superparamagnetic properties and low IC₅₀ values, offering new insights into the design of multifunctional nanocomposites. Tuning the physiochemical properties of nanomaterials can have broad-field scientific applications.