Evaluation of Dysprosia Aerogels as Drug Delivery Systems: A Comparative Study with Random and Ordered Mesoporous Silicas

Abstract

Biocompatible dysprosia aerogels were synthesized from DyCl3·6H2O and were reinforced mechanically with a conformal nano-thin-polyurea coating applied over their skeletal framework. The random mesoporous space of dysprosia aerogels was filled up to about 30% v/v with paracetamol, indomethacin, or insulin, and the drug release rate was monitored spectrophotometrically in phosphate buffer (pH = 7.4) or 0.1 M aqueous HCl. The drug uptake and release study was conducted comparatively with polyurea-crosslinked random silica aerogels, as well as with as-prepared (native) and polyurea-crosslinked mesoporous silica perforated with ordered 7 nm tubes in hexagonal packing. Drug uptake from random nanostructures (silica or dysprosia) was higher (30-35% w/w) and the release rate was slower (typically >20 h) relative to ordered silica (19-21% w/w, <1.5 h, respectively). Drug release data from dysprosia aerogels were fitted with a flux equation consisting of three additive terms that correspond to drug stored successively in three hierarchical pore sites on the skeletal framework. The high drug uptake and slow release from dysprosia aerogels, in combination with their low toxicity, strong paramagnetism, and the possibility for neutron activation render those materials attractive multifunctional vehicles for site-specific drug delivery.

Synthesis and biomedical applications of aerogels: Possibilities and challenges

“…The release profile of the drug loaded into the aerogels will be dependent on the nature of the aerogel [171] and can be modified by using different methods like multi-membrane hydrogel formation, preparation of hybrid aerogels, surface derivatization of aerogels or aerogel post-coating [200][201][202][203]. Finally, aerogels can also be endowed with magnetic properties for targeted release purposes like hyperthermia or focused drug delivery [204,205].…”

Poly(Urethane-Acrylate) Aerogels via Radical Polymerization of Dendritic Urethane-Acrylate Monomers

“…A few years later in 1942, Monsanto Corporation commercialized a product known as ‘aerogel’ under the trade name Santocel, according to Kistler’s procedure [6]. Because of attractive properties of silica aerogels (e.g., low values of thermal conductivity, very low density, high porosity, high surface area), those materials have found applications in space exploration [7,8], in nuclear reactors as Cerenkov radiation detectors [9,10,11], in catalysis [12,13], and in drug delivery [14,15]. Nowadays, several types of aerogels are known, including inorganic [16,17,18,19,20], organic (based on biopolymers [21,22,23,24] or synthetic polymers [25,26,27,28,29]), and hybrid inorganic/organic [30,31,32,33,34].…”

A facile template route to periodic mesoporous organosilicas nanospheres with tubular structure by using compressed CO2

“…PMOs have recently been explored as effective drug delivery carriers to fight against various kinds of diseases because of the ordered mesopores structure and organic groups72. To further develop the potential applications of the prepared PMOs with tubular structure in biomedical fields, the adsorption and desorption capacity was assessed with a typical anti-inflammatory drug IBU (Fig.…”