Nanoparticles of SBA-15 synthesized from corn silica as an effective delivery system for valproic acid

The aim of this work is to study the behavior of SBA-15 synthesized using amorphous silica extracted from different parts of the corn plant, as drug carriers. The synthesized nano-silica and mesoporous SBA-15 were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transition electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and N2 isotherms. SEM and TEM images showed that SBA-15 is formed by spongy agglomerated nanoparticles revealing the growth of hexagonal shaped domains. The synthesized SBA-15 was modified with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), to increase the carriers' capacity. The SBA-15 and modified SBA-15 show hexagonal order with decreasing pore size from 7.5 nm to 5.5 nm after modification, and surface area from 488 m2/g to 127.75 m2/g in modified SBA-15. Finally, SBA-15 and modified SBA-15 were used as a carrier for valproic acid. The release studies were carried out at λ max = 205 nm by UV-Vis. The results indicated that the release of the drug increased with increasing pH and time. As the drug moves, the digestive tract increases from the stomach to the intestine, and a pH of 6.8 resembling the best results as compared with pH 1.2.