Synthesis and Characterization of Ni-Based MOFs for Photocatalytic Degradation of Congo Red and Anticancer Drug Delivery for MDA-MB-231 Cell Line

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are novel types of crystalline molecular solids that have recently emerged. These MOFs link organic ligands with metal or metal-cluster connecting sites. MOFs have become a fascinating class of porous materials with many applications in photocatalytic degradation and drug delivery systems because of their unique properties such as large surface areas, flexibility, and well-ordered porous structures. In this chapter, we described the synthesis of a nontoxic Ni(bdc)-based MOF with benzene 1,4 dicarboxylic acid as the linker and DMSO as the solvent in a Teflon autoclave using hydrothermal method. The synthesized MOFs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive microscopy (EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and N2-sorption measurements. The photocatalytic activity of the Ni(bdc)-based MOF was examined on Congo red under visible light irradiation, and the electron transfer from photoexcited organic ligands to metallic clusters was thought to be the mechanism of photocatalysis. When loaded with the anticancer drug cisplatin, the Ni(bdc)-based MOFs acted as an efficient drug delivery system against the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231, with 35.26% cell viability. Cytotoxicity experiments using the MTT assay revealed that the nanocarriers inhibited cell proliferation, with an IC50 value of 46.84 μg/ml.