Abstract
Andrographolide (ADG) was conjugated with MIL-53(Al), ZIF-8, carbon-based quantum dots (CBQDs) and doped carbon-based quantum dots (D-CBQDs) using high-pressure (0.3 GPa) contact. This solvent-free approach is environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and time-saving, resulting in ADG-MOFs-CBQDs/D-CBQDs with physical properties comparable to those produced by traditional liquid phase encapsulation. The resulting nanocomposites were characterized using SEM, XRD, TGA, FT-IR, and (1)H NMR. The results indicate that ADG was partly encapsulated within the metal-organic framework (MOF) pores, while another portion was bound externally to CBQD/D-CBQDs, as evidenced by distinct drug signals in each analysis. This green synthesis approach simplifies the conjugation process. It significantly enhances the drug solubility, as indicated by changes in hydrophobicity observed via (1)H NMR, surpassing the improvements achieved by ADG encapsulation within MOFs alone. Additionally, in preliminary tests, the materials exhibited significant cytotoxicity against PC3 cells compared to ADG (25.05 ± 0.06 µg/mL) after 48 hours of exposure.