ABSTRACT The biosynthesis of nanoparticles, particularly metal oxides, has garnered significant attention due to their environmentally friendly characteristics and potential in biomedical applications. In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were biosynthesized using chitosan extracted from shrimp shells as an innovative bio‐reductive and capping agent. Various characterization techniques, including x‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), confirmed the formation of crystalline nanoparticles with a mean crystallite size of 34.3 nm. The synthesized ZnO NPs exhibited marked antioxidant activity against DPPH (IC50 = 48.8 ± 0.71 µg/mL), H 2 O 2 (IC50 = 53.62 ± 0.60 µg/mL), and ABTS (IC50 = 73.09 ± 0.63 µg/mL), comparable to ascorbic acid. Furthermore, the nanoparticles showed moderate, dose‐dependent cytotoxicity against MCF‐7 breast cancer cells, with an IC 50 of 258 ± 0.01 µg/mL and reduced viability at higher doses. Molecular docking studies revealed a plausible anticancer mechanism by demonstrating stable binding of the ZnO nanostructure to the breast cancer‐related target carbonic anhydrase IX (PDB ID: 6NM0). Taken together, the findings suggest that ZnO NPs synthesized from shrimp shell chitosan combine strong antioxidant capacity with promising anticancer activity, highlighting their potential as eco‐friendly nanomaterials for future therapeutic applications.
Mouada et al. (Sun,) studied this question.