Bio-templated synthesis of highly ordered macro-mesoporous silica material for sustained drug delivery

The bimodal porous structured silica materials consisting of macropores with the diameter of 5-20 mu m and framework-like mesopores with the diameter of 4.7-6.0 nm were prepared using natural Manchurian ash and mango linin as macropored hard templates and P123 as mesopore soft templates, respectively. The macroporous structures of Manchurian ash and mango linin were replicated with the walls containing highly ordered mesoporous silica as well. As-synthesized dual porous silica was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption, fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy, and thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA). Ibuprofen (Ibu) was employed as a model drug and the release profiles showed that the dual porous material had a sustained drug delivery capability. And such highly ordered dual pore silica materials may have potential applications for bimolecular adsorption/separation and tissue repairing. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.