Nitric Oxide Gas Delivery by Fluorinated Poly(Ethylene Glycol)@Graphene Oxide Carrier toward Pharmacotherapeutics

In view of preparing effective nitric oxide gas carriers, a fluorinated poly(ethylene glycol) (F-PEG) was noncovalently conjugated with acid-treated graphene oxide (GO) to prepare the composite of F-PEG@GO. When the persistence of NO gas doped on GO and F-PEG@GO was investigated for 3 h, the conserved NO gas decreased from 49.00 ± 7.06 to 2.17 ± 1.36 nmol/mg carrier and from 58.51 ± 6.02 to 4.58 ± 2.22 nmol/mg carrier, respectively. The adsorption of F-PEG on GO and the doping of NO on GO and F-PEG@GO were declarative by the increase of distance between GO sheets, and the NO doping was also clarified by infrared absorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. The antibacterial effect was higher for NO-conserved F-PEG@GO than for NO-conserved GO and more effective against Staphylococcus aureusthan against Escherichia coli. It is evident that the coating of F-PEG on GO is preferable for advancing the loading efficiency, the stability and the biomedical efficacy of NO gas.