Facile synthesis and magnetic property of iron oxide/MCM-41 mesoporous silica nanospheres for targeted drug delivery

Abstract

Iron oxide/MCM-41 hybrid nanospheres (designated as MMSN) with a large surface area of 1334 m2/g and a uniform diameter of 85 nm have been synthesized via a facile sol-gel route. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imagery shows many ultra-small iron oxide nanoparticles evenly distributed inside the mesoporous silica nanospheres. High-resolution TEM image with a corresponding electron diffraction spectrum and Fourier transform infrared spectra confirm the formation of iron oxide nanoparticles while the ordered mesoporous silica structure is maintained. The MMSN present a ferromagnetic property that ensures them a fast response to an applied magnetic field. Moreover, they are proven to be beneficial for loading an anticancer drug—doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), because a considerable loading content of 6.0% and a high entrapment efficiency of 90.5% have been achieved. Most notably, these DOX-loaded MMSN display not only a pH-variable but also a magnetic field-controllable drug release behavior. Further, after 48 h co-incubation, the MMSN did not show any significant cytotoxicity against human HepG2 cells even at a high concentration of 250 μg/mL. These results have demonstrated that the prepared MMSN may be potential drug carriers for both magnetic targeting and stimuli-responsive controlled release.