In this work, β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) – polyethyleneglycol (PEG) – polyethyleneimine (PEI) coated iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG-PEI) were developed as drug carriers for drug delivery applications. The 5- Fluorouracil (5-FU) was chosen as model drug molecule. The developed nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG-PEI) were characterized by various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The average particles size range of 5-FU loaded Fe₃O₄-β-CD, Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG and Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG-PEI nanoparticles were from 151 to 300nm and zeta potential value of nanoparticles were from −43mV to −20mV as measured using Malvern Zetasizer.

Finally, encapsulation efficiency (EE), loading capacity (LC) and in-vitro drug release performance of 5-FU drug loaded Fe₃O₄-β-CD, Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG and Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG-PEI nanoparticles was evaluated by UV–vis spectroscopy. In-vitro cytotoxicity tests investigated by MTT assay indicate that 5-FU loaded Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG-PEI nanoparticles were toxic to cancer cells and non-toxic to normal cells. The in-vitro release behavior of 5-FU from drug (5-FU) loaded Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG-PEI composite at different pH values and temperature was studied. It was found that 5-FU was released faster in pH 6.8 than in the acidic mediums (pH 1.2), and the released quantity was higher. Therefore, the newly prepared Fe₃O₄-β-CD-PEG-PEI carrier exhibits a promising potential capability for anticancer drug delivery in tumor therapy.