Porous silicon-cyclodextrin based polymer composites for drug delivery applications

• PSi layers were stabilized by H2O2 and functionalized by β-CD in-situ polymerization.
• Physicochemical characterization of PSi/β-CD hybrids was fairly exhaustive.
• Results showed that PSi/β-CD hybrids were functional for drug delivery applications.

One of the main applications of porous silicon (PSi) in biomedicine is drug release, either as a single material or as a part of a composite. PSi composites are attractive candidates for drug delivery systems because they can display new chemical and physical characteristics, which are not exhibited by the individual constituents alone. Since cyclodextrin-based polymers have been proven efficient materials for drug delivery, in this work β-cyclodextrin–citric acid in-situ polymerization was used to functionalize two kinds of PSi (nanoporous and macroporous). The synthesized composites were characterized by microscopy techniques (SEM and AFM), physicochemical methods (ATR-FTIR, XPS, water contact angle, TGA and TBO titration) and a preliminary biological assay was performed. Both systems were tested as drug delivery platforms with two different model drugs, namely, ciprofloxacin (an antibiotic) and prednisolone (an anti-inflammatory), in two different media: pure water and PBS solution. Results show that both kinds of PSi/β-cyclodextrin–citric acid polymer composites, nano- and macro-, provide enhanced release control for drug delivery applications than non-functionalized PSi samples.