Synthesis and characterization of silica aerogel as a promising drug carrier system

Abstract In the past years, use of aerogel in drug carrier systems has been of great interest among researchers because of its amorphous structure, significant porosity, and other special properties. In this study, the effects of physical characteristics of silica aerogels on the efficient medical application are investigated. To this end, silica aerogels with several densities were synthesized by using a two-stage sol-gel procedure and dilution by acetonitrile in gelation step. Physical characteristics of produced silica aerogels were analyzed by BET and BJH methods. Results reveal that the pore diameter and the surface area of silica aerogel are functions of its density. Using supercritical CO2 method, the efficiency of drug (Ketoprofen) loading on aerogels with respect to aerogel density was investigated. Cell viability and cell growth on silica aerogels were evaluated by MTT assay and SEM analysis, respectively. The drug-loaded materials were characterized by using of FT-IR, XRD, UV-Spectroscopy, and FE-SEM analysis. Results show that the effective density of silica aerogel for a drug carrier system is 0.12  g/cm 3 .