Fabrication of Mesoporous Silica Shells on Solid Silica Spheres Using Anionic Surfactants and Their Potential Application in Controlling Drug Release

Abstract: In this work, mesoporous shells were constructed on solid silica cores by employing anionic surfactante. A co-structure directing agent (CSDA) has assisted the electrostatic interaction between negatively charged silica particles and the negatively charged surfactant molecules. Synthetic parameters such as reaction time and temperature had a significant impact on the formation of mesoporous silica shelld and their textural properties such as surface area and pore volume. Core-mesoporous shell silica spheres were characterized by small angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and N₂ adsorption–desorption analysis. The synthesized particles have a uniformly mesoporous shell of 34–65 nm and possess a surface area of ca. 7–324 m²/g, and pore volume of ca. 0.008–0.261 cc/g. The core-mesoporous shell silica spheres were loaded with ketoprofen drug molecules. The in vitro drug release study suggested that core-mesoporous shell silica spheres are a suitable nanocarrier for drug molecules offering the possibility of having control over their release rate.