Adsorption of avermectin on porous hollow silica nanoparticles by supercritical technology.

Porous hollow silica nanoparticles with O.D. of approximately 100 nm and a wall thickness of approximately 10 nm were prepared by using inorganic CaCO3 templates. The produced PHSN were employed as a novel carrier to study the adsorption of avermectin in supercritical carbon dioxide by applying different adsorption pressure, adsorption temperature, adsorption time and volume of cosolvent. The results indicated that while increasing adsorption pressure and time always showed a positive effect on the avermectin adsorption until adsorption saturation is reached, both the adsorption temperature and volume of cosolvent require an optimal value for achieving the maximum adsorption. It was found that the optimal adsorption could be obtained at an adsorption pressure of 15 MPa and an adsorption temperature of 313 K for 90 minutes with 5 ml cosolvent. In addition, the desorption behavior of avermectin from the avermectin-loaded PHSN samples showed a sustained style: approximately 60% of avermectin was released in the first 20 minutes, while the other 40% followed a typical sustained desorption pattern and was dissolved out slowly for a time period of 3000 minutes, which is different from the quick and complete desorption from solid SiO2 carriers.

Study of UV-shielding properties of novel porous hollow silica nanoparticle carriers for avermectin.

The shielding protection given by self-prepared porous hollow silica nanoparticles (PHSN) to pesticides from degradation by UV light was investigated using avermectin as a model pesticide. It was demonstrated that PHSN carriers with a shell thickness of approximately 15 nm and a pore diameter of 4-5 nm have an encapsulation capacity of 625 g kg(-1) for avermectin using a supercritical fluid loading method. PHSN carriers exhibited remarkable UV-shielding properties for avermectin. This was affected by the intensity of UV light, the pH and the temperature of the release medium. Rises in UV intensity, pH and/or temperature reduced the UV protection of PHSN for avermectin. In addition, avermectin loaded into the inner core of the PHSN carriers was released slowly into the release medium for about 30 days following a typical sustained-release pattern. It thus appears that PHSN carriers have a promising future in applications requiring sustained pesticide release.

Controlled release of avermectin from porous hollow silica nanoparticles: influence of shell thickness on loading efficiency, UV-shielding property and release.

Preparation and characterization of porous hollow silica nanoparticles (PHSNs), with various shell thicknesses in the range of 5-45 nm and a pore diameter of about 4-5 nm, were investigated. PHSNs were fabricated via a sol-gel route with two different structure-directing templates and their shell thickness could be controlled by adjusting the reactant ratio of Na2SiO3.9H2O/CaCO3. The produced PHSNs were applied as controlled pesticide release carriers to study the effects of the shell thickness on the loading efficiency for avermectin, the UV-shielding property for the loaded avermectin and the controlled release of the loaded avermectin from the carriers. It was found that the amount of loaded avermectin decreases with the increase of shell thickness, while the UV-shielding property of PHSNs for avermectin is improved as the shell gets thicker. In addition, the shell thickness has a significant impact on avermectin release. Increasing the shell thickness in the range of 5-45 nm leads to a more sustained release by decreasing the release rate of the pesticide from PHSNs, showing that the shell thickness is one of the main controlling factors for the active agent release from such systems.

Controlled release of avermectin from porous hollow silica nanoparticles.

Porous hollow silica nanoparticles (PHSNs) with a diameter of ca 100 nm and a pore size of ca 4.5 nm were synthesized via a sol-gel route using inorganic calcium carbonate nanoparticles as templates. The synthesized PHSNs were subsequently employed as pesticide carriers to study the controlled release behaviour of avermectin. The avermectin-loaded PHSN (Av-PHSN) samples were characterized by BET, thermogravimetric analysis and IR, showing that the amount of avermectin encapsulated in the PHSN carrier could reach 58.3% w/w by a simple immersion loading method, and that most of the adsorption of avermectin on the Av-PHSN carrier might be physical. Avermectin may be loaded on the external surface, the pore channels in the wall and the inner core of the PHSN carriers, thus leading to a multi-stage sustained-release pattern from the Av-PHSN samples. Increasing pH or temperature intensified the avermectin release.

Fabrication of porous hollow silica nanoparticles and their applications in drug release control.

Preparation and characterization of porous hollow silica nanoparticles (PHSN) for controlled release applications were investigated. Through orthogonally designed experiments, the optimal synthesis conditions for the preparation of PHSN were obtained and the produced PHSN were characterized by BET, SEM, TEM and IR. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy images revealed their hollow shell-core structure and also demonstrated that the size and shape of PHSN are determined by the templating CaCO3 nanoparticles. The produced PHSN were applied as a carrier to study the controlled release behaviors of Brilliant Blue F (BB), which was used as a model drug. Being loaded into the inner core and on the surfaces of the nanoparticles, BB was released slowly into a bulk solution for about 1140 min as compared to only 10 min for the normal SiO2 nanoparticles, thus exhibited a typical sustained release pattern without any burst effect. In addition, higher BET of the carriers, lower pH value and lower temperature prolonged BB release from PHSN, while stirring speed showed little influence on the release behavior. It showed that PHSN have a promising future in controlled drug delivery applications.