APTES-modified mesoporous silicas as the carriers for poorly water-soluble drug. Modeling of diflunisal adsorption and release

Four mesoporous siliceous materials such as SBA-16, SBA-15, PHTS and MCF functionalized with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane were successfully prepared and applied as the carriers for poorly water-soluble drug diflunisal. Several techniques including nitrogen sorption analysis, XRD, TEM, FUR and thermogravimetric analysis were employed to characterize mesoporous matrices. Adsorption isotherms were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich models. In order to find the best-fit isotherm for each model, both linear and nonlinear regressions were carried out. The equilibrium data were best fitted by the Langmuir isotherm model revealing maximum adsorption capacity of 217.4 mg/g for aminopropyl group-modified SBA-15. The negative values of Gibbs free energy change indicated that the adsorption of diflunisal is a spontaneous process. Weibull release model was employed to describe the dissolution profile of diflunisal. At pH 4.5 all prepared mesoporous matrices exhibited the improvement of drug dissolution kinetics as compared to the dissolution rate of pure diflunisal. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.