Biomimetic synthesized bimodal nanoporous silica: Bimodal mesostructure formation and application for ibuprofen...

The present paper innovatively reports bimodal nanoporous silica synthesized using biomimetic method (B-BNS) with synthesized polymer (C16-L-serine) as template. Formation mechanism of B-BNS was deeply studied and exploration of its application as carrier of poorly water-soluble drug ibuprofen (IBU) was conducted. The bimodal nanopores and curved mesoscopic channels of B-BNS were achieved due to the dynamic self-assembly of C16-L-serine induced by silane coupling agent (3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, APTES) and silica source (tetraethoxysilane, TEOS). Characterization results confirmed the successful synthesis of B-BNS, and particularly, nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurement demonstrated that B-BNS was meso-meso porous silica material. In application, B-BNS loaded IBU with high drug loading content due to its enlarged nanopores. After being loaded, IBU presented amorphous phase because nanoporous space and curved mesoscopic channels of B-BNS prevented the crystallization of IBU. In vitro release result revealed that B-BNS controlled IBU release with two release phases based on bimodal nanopores and improved dissolution in simulated gastric fluid due to crystalline conversion of IBU. It is convincible that biomimetic method provides novel theory and insight for synthesizing bimodal nanoporous silica, and unique functionalities of B-BNS as drug carrier can undoubtedly promote the application of bimodal nanoporous silica and development of pharmaceutical science.