A friendly environmental approach for the controlled release of Eucalyptus essential oil

The latest health scandals lead to improve treatment of patients using alternative ways more concerned with the environment and human health. The use of ecological systems represents a safe approach for their uses in medical application. Delivery system encapsulating Eucalyptus essential oil (EEO) could be an alternative approach to fight against bacterial, inflammatory, pyretic and respiratory infections. In this study, we report the synthesis of three zeolites Y covalently grafted with beta-cyclodextrins using succinic, adipic and citric acid as croslinker. The morphology, thermal property, porosity, chemical composition and yield of grafting were determined to fully characterize these new materials. The values obtained in BET show a marked decrease of specific surface area, characteristic of a change in the zeolite structure. The ability of the obtained zeolite to progressively release EEO was investigated by multiple headspace extraction (MHE). The results demonstrated that obtained zeolites were able to encapsulate EEO more efficiently than free beta-cyclodextrin and to decrease their release kinetics. Thus, these new friendly materials can find applications to improve the use of essential oils in aromatherapy, cosmetic or medicine.