Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles for sustained cargo delivery

Abstract

This study showed the comparison between conventional mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) and hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNPs) in terms of their loading and releasing efficiency using Rhodamine-B (Rh.B) as hydrophilic model drug. The coating effect of polyethyleneimine (PEI) polymer on the surface of the HMSNPs was also investigated and the results demonstrate that the PEI coating can help HMSNPs in achieving a sustained cargo release. The study employed the state-of-the-art techniques, e.g. TEM, BET, XRD, zeta-potential, FT-IR, and TGA, in characterizing the MSNPs and HMSNPs at different stages of the experiments and the obtained results were discussed accordingly.