Role of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane in the preparation of mesoporous silica nanoparticles for ibuprofen delivery: Effect on physicochemical properties

• APTES modification influenced the density of silanol group and pore size of the MSN.
• The order of APTES modification did not affect ibuprofen adsorption.
• Parent MSN showed the highest rate of adsorption due to abundant –OH groups.
• APTES-modified MSN displayed the fastest release of ibuprofen.
• Strong amine-ibuprofen interactions in MSNpost resulted in the slowest release rate.

The development of mesoporous silica nanoparticle-based platforms for a controlled drug delivery was studied. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) was synthesized and modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) using co-condensation (MSNco) and post-grafting (MSNpost) methods. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) data confirmed the formation of ordered mesostructured silica nanoparticles. The performance of MSNs was then tested on an ibuprofen immobilization and release. The results revealed that unmodified MSN demonstrated the best immobilization rate and capacity of ibuprofen (98%), MSNpost exhibited higher ibuprofen adsorption (78%) as compared to MSNco (71%), suggesting the modification method is not the dominant factor for the adsorption studied. In fact, according to the FT-IR results, the silanol groups density was found to be the contributing factor that affected the adsorption. The in vitro drug release was also investigated with simulated biological fluids. In 20 h, MSNco showed the fastest release of ibuprofen (100%), followed by MSN (50%) and MSNpost (38%). Both pore size and amine groups influenced the rate of the release process. From the results, MSN and MSNpost is suggested to have suitable features for slow drug release which provides constant release over a defined period to avoid repeated administration. While MSNco could be best employed as a fast release system that provides initial burst of drug release to achieve rapid and maximum relief.

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