Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, Sem Sælands vei 3, 0371 Oslo, Norway.
Nacamed AS, Oslo Science Park, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway.
Nanoscale. 2024 May 23;16(20):9899-9910. doi: 10.1039/d3nr05655d.
Nanomedicine is a growing field where development of novel organic and inorganic materials is essential to meet the complex requirements for drug delivery. This includes biocompatibility, suitability for surface modifications, biodegradability, and stability sufficient to carry a drug payload through various tissues for the desired timespan. Porous silicon nanoparticles (pSi NP) are shown to have several beneficial traits in drug delivery in addition to a porous structure to maximize drug loading. The conventional synthesis of pSi NP using electrochemical etching is costly, time-consuming and requires large quantities of highly toxic hydrofluoric acid (HF). As such this research attempted a novel method to address these limitations. Mesoporous silicon nanoparticles were prepared by centrifugal Chemical Vapor Deposition (cCVD) without the use of HF. This process generated aggregates consisting of multiple primary particles fused into each other, similar to snowballs fused together in a snow-lantern (snowball pyramid). Our results demonstrated that the cCVD Si particles were versatile in terms of surface chemistry, colloidal stability, degradability, minimization of acute toxicity, and modulation of drug release. Dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and cryogenic nitrogen adsorption isotherm measurements confirmed the overall size (210 nm), morphology, and pore size (14-16 nm) of the prepared materials. Agglomeration in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was minimized by PEGylation by a two-step grafting procedure that employed a primary amine linker. Finally, the release rate of a model drug, hydrocortisone, was evaluated with both PEGylated and pristine particles. Conclusively, these snow-lantern cCVD Si particles do indeed appear suitable for drug delivery.
纳米医学是一个快速发展的领域，新型有机和无机材料的开发对于满足药物输送的复杂要求至关重要。这包括生物相容性、适合表面修饰、可生物降解性和足够的稳定性，以在各种组织中携带药物有效载荷达所需的时间。多孔硅纳米粒子（pSi NP）在药物输送中除了具有多孔结构以最大限度地增加药物载量外，还具有许多有益的特性。使用电化学蚀刻法合成 pSi NP 是昂贵的、耗时的，并且需要大量剧毒的氢氟酸（HF）。因此，这项研究试图采用一种新的方法来解决这些限制。介孔硅纳米粒子是通过无 HF 参与的离心化学气相沉积（cCVD）制备的。该过程生成了由多个初级颗粒融合在一起的聚集体，类似于融合在一起的雪球（雪球金字塔）。我们的结果表明，cCVD Si 颗粒在表面化学、胶体稳定性、可降解性、急性毒性最小化和药物释放调节方面具有多功能性。动态光散射、扫描电子显微镜和低温氮吸附等温线测量证实了所制备材料的总体尺寸（210nm）、形态和孔径（14-16nm）。通过两步接枝程序，使用伯胺连接剂对聚乙二醇化最小化了在磷酸盐缓冲盐水（PBS）中的团聚。最后，用 PEG 化和原始颗粒评估了模型药物氢化可的松的释放速率。总之，这些雪球状 cCVD Si 颗粒确实适合用于药物输送。
