Abstract
The study investigates the suitable nanosilica carriers to transport acidic type cargo molecules for potential targeted drug delivery application. Using phenolic acidic type antioxidant gallic acid (GA) as model compound, the present study investigates the loading effect of GA (0.3-15.9 mmol GA g(-1) support) on textural characteristics of amorphous silica nanoparticles such as Q10 silica (1D), structured two-dimensional SiMCM- 41 (2D), and three-dimensional Si-SBA-16 (3D). The variation in the nature of textures after GA loading was analyzed using X-ray diffraction, N-2 adsorption, FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Among the nanocarriers, high adsorption of GAwas found in the following order: Si-SBA-16 (3D)similar to Si-KIT-6 (3D) > Si-MCM-41 (2D) > ultralarge pore FDU-12 (ULPFDU-12; 3D) > Q10 (1D)similar to mesostructured cellular silica foam (MSU-F). 3D-type silicas Si-SBA-16 and KIT-6 were shown to maintain structural integrity at acidic condition (pH similar to 3) and accommodate GA in non-crystalline form. In the case of ULPFDU-12 and MSU-F cellular foam, only crystalline deposition of GA occurs with a significant variation in the surface area and pore volume.