Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles and Waste Derived-Siliceous Materials for Doxorubicin Adsorption and Release

Abstract

Abstract Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) have been widely used for the drug delivery system due to their unique properties such as porous structure, high and tailorable internal and external surface area, as well as functionalizable surface. Due to the abundance of rice husk ash waste (RHA), extensive research had been conducted to convert these wastes to a useful resources. As RHA had been reported to contain high silica content (96.34%), it was seen as potential adsorbent as other silica materials. In this study, we have synthesized nano-silica materials from RHA (RHA-silica) to compare the potential of this waste-derived material with MSN for drug delivery application. RHA-silica was applied to the adsorption and release of model anti-cancer drugs, doxorubicin, and the performance was compared with the synthesized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN). The characterization of the material was also compared and it was observed that the adsorption of doxorubicin was 65% on RHA-silica and MSN was 79.5% and 90.8%, while the total release percentage was 30.7% and 48.8%, respectively. From the result, it is expected that the waste-derived silica material could be further modified and optimized for the drug delivery application, as well as the appropriate modification and functionalization to suite the need for adsorption and release of drugs, but with lower cost and significant contribution to a greener chemistry.