ABSTRACT

This work represents an attempt to synthesize mesoporous silica nanoparticles and to take advantage of its surface area, pore size and pore volume for delivery of drug. In this work hesperidin, a bioflavonoid obtained from citrus fruit, was successfully loaded on silica nanoparticles by solvent immersion method. Hesperidin loaded nanoparticles were characterized for surface area, pore size, pore volume, in vitro dissolution, differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. The SEM and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm result demonstrated that both blank and hesperidin-MSNs possessed spherical surface with little aggregation. Mesoporous particles had surface area of 812.232 m2 g-1. It had pore size and volume was 2.242 nm and 0.635cm3 g-1, respectively. In vitro drug dissolution study showed slow release of hesperidin; which may be due to interaction between silanol function groups. This technique seems to produce particles with larger surface area and can be used as an effective carrier for drug delivery