Nanoporous Silicon as Drug Delivery Systems for Cancer Therapies

Abstract

Porous silicon nanoparticles have been established as excellent candidates for medical applications as drug delivery devices, due to their excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high surface area. The simple fabrication method by electrochemical anodization of silicon and its photoluminescent properties are some of the merits that have contributed to the increasing interest given to porous silicon. This paper presents the methods of fabrication, which can be customized to control the pore size, various chemical treatments used for the modification of silicon surfaces, and the characterization and pore morphology of silicon structures. Different approaches used for drug loading and the variety of coatings used for the controlled released are revised. The monitoring of the toxicity of silicon degradation products and the in vivo release of a drug in a specific site are described taking into account its significance on medical applications, specifically on cancer therapy.

Single-Crystalline, Nanoporous Gallium Nitride Films With Fine Tuning of Pore Size for Stem Cell Engineering

“…Nanostructured semiconductors with emerging optical or electronic properties have demonstrated wide-spread applications in microelectronics, optoelectronics [1][2][3][4], chemical [5,6] and biomolecular sensors [7][8][9][10][11], biomedical drug delivery [12], and biomolecular separation [13]. Recently, nanostructured surfaces are further opening new opportunities in rare cell analysis and stem cell engineering via nanoscale cell-surface interactions.…”

Big Potential From Silicon-Based Porous Nanomaterials: In Field of Energy Storage and Sensors

“…On the basis of the surface, optical, biocompatible and nontoxic properties, pSiNPs have been used in bio-applications as Nano carriers, diagnostics and for the treatment of cancer (Vaccari et al, 2006 ; Donnorso et al, 2012 ; Haidary et al, 2012 ; Kaasalainen et al, 2012 ; Tzur-Balter et al, 2013 ; Yang et al, 2014b ; Min-Dianey et al, 2018 ). The mSiNPs have great potential toward drug delivery devices due to their easy functionalization, good loading/release rate, solubility, tunable porosity and a large surface area (200–800 m 2 /g) (Reffitt et al, 1999 ; Anderson et al, 2003 ; Mattei and Valentini, 2003 ; Horcajada et al, 2004 ; Salonen et al, 2005 ; Anglin et al, 2008 ; Tabasi et al, 2012 ; Ma et al, 2017a ).…”

Comparative SERS study carried out on unsilanized and silanized oxidized porous silicon surface coated by small gold nanoparticles

“…After that, the PSi layers were oxidized for one hour in wet oxygen at 950°C to stabilize the surface [28][29][30] and also as a prerequisite step for the chemical functionalization [31,32]. By…”