PVP-Induced Synthesis of Silica Nanoparticles with Tailored Size for pH-Controlled Drug Release

Abstract

Traditional cancer therapy faces the main fail due to the effect of drug burst release, hindering the long-term therapeutic efficacy. SiO2 nano systems possess high-capacity and pH-controlled release for anti-cancer drug, improving the curative efficacy in cancer treatment. Thus, we designed a novel method to construct Silica Nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) with diameters of ca. 150 nm by adding different amounts of PVP. The maximum drug-loading of the synthesized SiO2 NPs is about 30 μg·mg−1, exhibiting excellent pH-responsive drug releasing ability in the simulated physiological environment. Meanwhile, the prepared SiO2 NPs also harbor well biocompatibility, which are suitable for potential cancer therapy in clinic.