Nanomaterials drug delivery: evaluation of structural properties associated with release rate

Abstract

Solid nanostructures are versatile platforms for constructing hybrid drug delivery systems that have tremendous potential for improving disease prevention and treatment. Is the internal pore structure of mesoporous nanoparticle drug delivery systems with different structural properties, namely cubic and hexagonal structures of various degrees of complexity. The internal pore surface of the nanomaterials presented has been functionalised with amine moieties through a one-pot method. Release profiles obtained by conductivity measurements are interpreted in terms of specific structural and textural parameters of the porous nanoparticles, such as pore geometry and connectivity. Results indicate that diffusion coefficients are lower by as much 4 orders of magnitude in two-dimensional structures in comparison to three-dimensional mesoporous solids. A fast release in turn is observed from mesocaged materials AMS-9 and AMS-8, where the presence of structural defects is thought to lead to a slightly lower diffusion coefficient in the latter. We conclude that the use of single or mixed phases of these porous systems can be utilized to provide sustained release over long time periods and expect their use in a variety of formulations.

Diagnostics

Nanotechnology-on-a-chip is one more dimension of lab-on-a-chip technology. Magnetic nanoparticles, bound to a suitable antibody, are used to label specific molecules, structures or microorganisms. Gold nanoparticles tagged with short segments of DNA can be used for detection of genetic sequence in a sample. Multicolor optical coding for biological assays has been achieved by embedding different-sized quantum dots into polymeric microbeads. Nanopore technology for analysis of nucleic acids converts strings of nucleotides directly into electronic signatures.

Drug delivery

Nanotechnology has been a boon for the medical field by delivering drugs to specific cells using nanoparticles. The overall drug consumption and side-effects can be lowered significantly by depositing the active agent in the morbid region only and in no higher dose than needed. This highly selective approach reduces costs and human suffering. They could hold small drug molecules transporting them to the desired location. Some potentially important applications include cancer treatment with iron nanoparticles or gold shells. A targeted or personalized medicine reduces the drug consumption and treatment expenses resulting in an overall societal benefit by reducing the costs to the public health system. Nanotechnology is also opening up new opportunities in implantable Targeted Delivery systems, which are often preferable to the use of injectable drugs, because the latter frequently display first-order kinetics. This rapid rise may cause difficulties with toxicity, and drug efficacy can diminish as the drug concentration falls below the targeted range.

Catalysis

Chemical catalysis benefits especially from nanoparticles, due to the extremely large surface to volume ratio. The application potential of nanoparticles in catalysis ranges from fuel cell to catalytic converters and photocatalytic devices. Catalysis is also important for the production of chemicals. Platinum nanoparticles are now being considered in the next generation of automotive catalytic converters because the very high surface area of nanoparticles could reduce the amount of platinum required.