Mesoporous silica aerogel as a drug carrier for the enhancement of the sunscreen ability of benzophenone-3

•In this study, we successfully prepared the MS-carried BP-3 sunscreens (MSBP) and characterized by FT-IR and TGA measurements.•The results of DSC and POM images showed that compared to free BP-3 the crystallinity of adsorbed BP-3 was greatly reduced in the MSBP-xs.•The SPF and UVA value of the MSBP-containing sunscreen emulsion, MSBP-2-E, was 17.3% and 17.0% higher than that of BP-3-E, respectively.•The synergistic enhancement of UV protection ability in the MSBP due to the adsorption of BP-3 by MS is demonstrated.

In the present study, about 45 and 34 wt% of benzophenone-3 (BP-3), an organic UV filter, was adsorbed on a high surface area mesoporous silica (MS) drug carrier to prepare BP-3-bearing MS (MSBP) sunscreen materials MSBP-1 and MSBP-2, respectively. The effect of the adsorption of BP-3 by MS on the UV protection ability of MSBP was demonstrated and a synergistic UV protection effect was observed in the as-prepared MSBP UV filters. Compared with free BP-3, adsorbed BP-3 had greatly reduced crystallinity and the dispersion of MSBP was significantly improved in the sunscreen. The in vitro sun protection factor (SPF) and in vitro UV-A values of the MSBP-2-based sunscreen was about 17.3% and 17.0% higher than that of free BP-3-based sunscreen, respectively, indicating that the ability of the sunscreen to protect against UV-B and UV-A improved because of the BP-3 content of the MS matrix. In addition, the decrease in SPF and UV-A values over time was significantly less in the MSBP-based sunscreens than in free BP-3-based sunscreen. Results of this study reveal that MS is a promising organic sunscreen carrier as well as a potential carrier for other topical drugs.

Graphical abstractThe synergistic UV absorption effect of MSBP caused by the enhancement of light scattering and reduction of crystallinity of the BP-3 adsorbed in MS.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide