Advanced functional Cu–Cr–Co-NPs@gelatin (GLN)-hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) nanocomposites with antimicrobial and anticancer activities

An advanced hybrid nanocomposite based on different metals (copper, cobalt, and chromium) decorated with sustainable polysaccharides (gelatin, GLN, and hydroxyethyl cellulose, HEC) was developed. The composite reflects several advantages including a controlled particle size, particle size distribution, along with promising antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Topographical and elemental analyses were carried out using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), demonstrating the formation of trimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) possessing domain sizes of 169 nm and 102 nm assigned to the free nanocomposite (Fcomp) and loaded nanocomposite (Lcomp), respectively. Moreover, antimicrobial and anticancer activities were evaluated for so-called Cu–Cr–Co-NPs@GLN-HEC nanocomposites. Antimicrobial results revealed that the synthesized Cu–Cr–Co-NPs@GLN-HEC nanocomposite exhibited outstanding antibacterial activity toward S. typhimurium, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and S. mutans with MICs of 125, 62.5, 125 and 7.81 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. Likewise, the synthesized Cu–Cr–Co-NPs@GLN-HEC nanocomposite showed promising antifungal activity against C. albicans and C. neoformans, with MICs of 31.25 and 15.62 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of Cu–Cr–Co-NPs@GLN-HEC was assessed toward the Wi38 normal cell line, labeled for half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 170.8 μg mL⁻¹. Furthermore, the Cu–Cr–Co-NPs@GLN-HEC nanocomposite exhibited strong anticancer activity toward the MCF7 cancerous cell line with IC₅₀ = 30.4 μg mL⁻¹. In conclusion, the synthesized Cu–Cr–Co-NPs@GLN-HEC nanocomposite has promising antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activities, which can be used in the medical field after excessive experiments in vivo.