Evaluation of mesoporous SBA-15 for the controlled delivery of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride

Controlled drug release of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride monohydrate has been investigated by loading into the channels of SBA-15 mesoporous silica. Three categories of SBA-15 were prepared by a sol-gel process according to blank SBA-15, calcined SBA-15 and SBA-15 functionalised with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) in a 1:1 ratio prior to drug loading. The carrier and drug samples were characterised by small-angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD), N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherm measurements, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry. Controlled drug release was conducted in buffered neutral conditions at room temperature for 24, 48 and 120 h. Maximum desorption was observed in the case of the amino-functionalised SBA-15 after 120 h corresponding to 72·16%, whereas for calcined SBA-15 this amounted to 71·35% and in the case of blank SBA-15 48·34% of the total amount of loaded drug was liberated demonstrating the slow release effect of mesoporous silica.