One-pot synthesis of surface roughness controlled hollow silica spheres with enhanced drug loading and release profiles under ambient conditions in aqueous solutions

A green one-pot approach is used to synthesize surface morphology controlled hollow silica spheres in aqueous solution under ambient conditions. Using cationic polystyrene particles as templates and aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as a structure directing agent, the surface roughness and wall thickness could be easily controlled by varying the concentration of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). The smooth surface of hollow silica spheres with different wall thicknesses was obtained using anionic polystyrene particles. The resulting hollow silica spheres with a rough surface had better performance in carrying and releasing a model drug.