Synthesis of hierarchical sieve-like mesoporous silica nanoparticle aggregates via centrifugal method for drug delivery system

Abstract

A facile approach towards the synthesis of a novel hierarchical sieve-like structure of mesoporous silica nanoparticle aggregates (hsMSNA) is reported using a centrifugal method at room temperature, based on the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and soft-template method. The developed approach is simple and can potentially be applied for scaled-up preparation. Importantly, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption experiments characterize the mesoporous silica as hsMSNA consisting of 40–100nm mesoporous silica nanoparticles piled at 1–2 μm cylindrical pores in sieve-like tissues. Further, various pore sizes and sieve-, mesh-, and vesicular-like structures can be obtained by adjusting the reaction conditions. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area is as large as 500 m2/g with a 47cm3/g pore volume, facilitating easy drug loading and delivery. Cytotoxicity assays show that the samples are not cytotoxic under a high concentration of 200 μg/mL. Finally, the high drug encapsulation efficiency and sustained release behaviors indicats the considerable potential of the hsMSNA as a drug delivery system in the field of nanomedicine.