锌铁氧体纳米颗粒（ZnFe2O4 NPs）因其在感知、废水处理和生物医学等领域的多种应用而受到广泛关注。本研究的新颖之处在于采用一步水热法制备了ZnFe2O4/RGO纳米复合材料，以评估RGO掺杂对ZnFe2O4 NPs的物化特性和抗癌效果的影响。采用X射线衍射（XRD）、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、能量散射X射线（EDX）、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）、紫外-可见吸收光谱和光致发光光谱对制备的纯ZnFe2O4 NPs和ZnFe2O4/RGO纳米复合材料进行了表征。XRD结果显示合成样品具有高结晶性。此外，纯ZnFe2O4纳米颗粒（NPs）和ZnFe2O4/RGO纳米复合材料（NCs）的平均晶体尺寸分别为51.08 nm和54.36 nm。SEM图像显示纯ZnFe2O4 NPs呈球形，均匀加载在RGO纳米片的表面。XPS和EDX分析确认了ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs的元素组成。SEM的元素映射显示ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs中的元素组成（锌、铁、氧和碳）均匀分布。FT-IR光谱的强度显示纯ZnFe2O4 NPs成功锚定在RGO纳米片上。光学研究表明ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs的能隙能量（1.61 eV）低于纯ZnFe2O4 NPs（1.96 eV）。PL光谱表明ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs的复合率低于ZnFe2O4 NPs。采用MTT法评估了ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs和纯ZnFe2O4 NPs对人类癌细胞的抗癌性能。体外研究表明，与纯ZnFe2O4 NPs相比，ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs对人类乳腺癌（MCF-7）和肺癌（A549）细胞具有更高的抗癌活性。本研究提示RGO掺杂通过调节其光学特性增强了ZnFe2O4 NPs的抗癌活性。本研究为进一步研究此类纳米复合材料的潜在治疗应用提供了依据。©2023作者

Zinc ferrite nanoparticles (ZnFe2O4 NPs) have attracted extensive attention for their diverse applications including sensing, waste-water treatment, and biomedicine. The novelty of the present work is the fabrication of ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs by using a one-step hydrothermal process to assess the influence of RGO doping on the physicochemical properties and anticancer efficacy of ZnFe2O4 NPs. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray(EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis spectroscopy, and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy were employed to characterize prepared pure ZnFe2O4 NPs and ZnFe2O4/ RGO NCs. XRD results showed that the synthesized samples have high crystallinity. Furthermore, the average crystal sizes of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles (NPs) and ZnFe2O4/RGO nanocomposites (NCs) were 51.08 nm and 54.36 nm, respectively. SEM images revealed that pure ZnFe2O4 NPs were spherical in shape with uniformly loaded on the surface of the RGO nanosheet. XPS and EDX analysis confirmed the elemental compositions of ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs. Elemental mapping of SEM shows that the elemental compositions (Zn, Fe, O, and C) were homogeneously distributed in ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs. The intensity of FT-IR spectra depicted that pure ZnFe2O4 NPs were successfully anchored into the RGO nanosheet. An optical study suggested that the band gap energy of ZnFe2O4/RGO NCs (1.61 eV) was lower than that of pure ZnFe2O4 NPs (1.96 eV). PL spectra indicated that the recombination rate of the ZnFe2O4/ RGO NCs was lower than ZnFe2O4 NPs. MTT assay was used to evaluate the anticancer performance of ZnFe2O4 /RGO NCs and pure ZnFe2O4NPs against human cancer cells. In vitro study indicates that ZnFe2O4 /RGO NCs have higher anticancer activity against human breast (MCF-7) and lung (A549) cancer cells as compared to pure form ZnFe2O4 NPs. This work suggests that RGO doping enhances the anticancer activity of ZnFe2O4NPs by tuning its optical behavior. This study warrants future research on potential therapeutic applications of these types of nanocomposites.© 2023 The Author(s).