Sacrificial polystyrene template assisted synthesis of tunable pore size hollow core-shell silica nanoparticles (HCSNs) for drug delivery application

Abstract

Hollow core-shell silica nanoparticles (HCSNs) with desirable interior space have attracted intensive interest in the field of controlled drug delivery. In the present research work facile two-step method was employed to synthesize HCSNs by using sacrificial polystyrene (PS) template. Monodispersed spherical polystyrene nanoparticles with size range 200-250 nm were synthesized by emulsion polymerization method. Silica was coated on PS template using TEOS as precursor and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the shell structure directing agent. Complete removal of the template particles was achieved by calcination at 550 �C confirmed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Variation in pore size was attained by altering ethanol/water volume ratio and visualized in scanning electron microscope (SEM). Average specific surface area of HCSNs verified by Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) method observed to be 842.57 m2/g. Drug release behavior was investigated using doxorubicin as model drug by varying pore size of HCSNs, displayed a pore size dependent release. HCSNs with reduced pore size (2.2 nm) showed maximum delay in the doxorubicin release, demonstrated the potential application of HCSNs in targeted drug delivery. � 2019 Author(s).