Direct synthesis of carbon microspheres under acidic conditions and fenofibrate release

•A facile and general route toward the production of CS is first offered.•CS based on RF resin are achieved under acid conditions.•FFB-CS significantly enhances the drug release rate.

Mesoporous carbon microspheres were prepared through a novel direct method under acid-catalyzed conditions, which not only avoided the complicated, time-consuming property of hard-template method, but also avoided the nonporous nature of carbon microspheres by hydrothermal method. Fenofibrate (FFB) was selected as a model drug and was loaded through incipient wetness impregnation. In vitro drug release results further showed that FFB incorporation into the materials significantly increased its release rate compared with that of pure crystalline FFB.

Graphical abstractFigure: The illustration for synthesis procedure of carbon microspheres.Magnetic mesoporous carbon microspheres were prepared through a novel direct method under acid-catalyzed conditions by using resorcinol­-formaldehyde resin as carbon precursor, F127 as soft template, and FeCl3 as magnetic source. F127 decomposed to form mesopores, resin was converted to the carbon framework, and FeCl3 was reduced to magnetic Fe nanoparticles during carbonization. The process is very simple, which not only avoided the complicated, time-consuming property of hard-template method, but also avoided the low pore volume and nonporous nature of carbon microspheres by hydrothermal method. Carbon microspheres loaded with FFB were developed to increase the FFB release rate.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide