Anticancer Activity of Synthesized ZnO and ZnO/AgCl Nanocomposites against Five Human Cancer Cells

Fattima Al-Zahra Gabar Gassim (Department of Pharmaceuticals, College of Pharmacy, University of Babylon, Hilla 51002, Iraq)
Ali Jabbar Jasim Makkawi (Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Babylon, Ministry of Education, Hilla 51002, Iraq)

Indonesian Journal of Chemistry
Vol 23, No 2 (2023)

In this work, a refluxing method is used to prepare nanoparticles of zinc oxide (ZnO NPS) and zinc oxide /silver chloride nanocomposites (ZnO/AgCl NCS). The structural properties of nanocrystals are studied by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) to determine the average crystal size, morphology, particle size and average grain size of nanocrystals. The results of anticancer efficiency of ZnO NPs and ZnO/AgCl NCs show cytotoxic activity against five human cancer cells, namely hepatocellular carcinoma, rhabdomyosarcoma (RD), colorectal carcinoma (HCT116), mammary gland (MCF-7), and epidermoid carcinoma (Hep2) compared against doxorubicin. The anticancer mechanism of pure and nanocomposites ZnO are suggested according to the release of Zn+2 and the production of reactive oxidation species (ROS) and the effect of these species on cancer inhibition.