Effects of strontium adding on the drug delivery behavior of silica nanoparticles synthesized by P123-assisted sol-gel method

In the present research, the effects of Sr2+ addition on the drug delivery behavior of nanoporous silica nanoparticles (NSNPs) synthesized by P123-assisted sol-gel were investigated. The XRD results showed that by adding Sr2+ to NSNPs, SrSi2O6H2 and Sr2Si2O9H6 phases were appeared. NSNPs had particle size of about 20 nm. With the increase of Sr2+ content in the NSNPs, the average particles size is significantly increased. The drug loading results exhibited that although NSNPs had higher surface area in comparison with strontium modified NSNPs samples, the latter particles had higher capacity for drug loading. The drug delivery results showed that with the increase of Sr2+ contents, the release rate reduced. A possible mechanism for drug delivery in this system was discussed. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.