Trans-stilbene based spherical mesoporous organosilica material for loading and release of hydrophobic curcumin

In this study, a new mesoporous organosilica carrier system was synthesized in which hydrophobic trans-stilbene is placed on the walls of the drug delivery system. In this way, it is aimed to increase the interaction between hydrophobic curcumin and the silica surface and to load more curcumin into the drug delivery system. Trans-stilbene based mesoporous organosilica (TSMON) material was prepared in the reaction of (E)-1,2-bis(4-(3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl)phenyl)ethylene (1) with tetraethyl orthosilicate in the presence of triblock copolymer cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a template in NaOH solution. Characterization of synthesized TSMON was done by FT-IR, XRD, BET, SEM and TGA analyses. Curcumin loading into the drug delivery system TSMON was carried out by mixing curcumin and TSMON in the dark for 24 hours. After the measurements made in the UV-Vis spectrophotometer, entrapment efficiency and loading capacity for TSMON were calculated as 22% and 18.2%, respectively. Next, the time dependent release of curcumin from Cur@TSMON at physiological and endosomal pH was studied. After 5 days of UV-Vis measurements, the percentage of curcumin release from Cur@TSMON was around 1% at pH = 5 and 7.4. The low release percentage obtained indicates a strong interaction between TSMON and curcumin penetrating the pores of the TSMON. This strong interaction allowed the drug delivery system TSMON to carry 99% of the payload without leaking at pH = 5 and 7.4 without pore capping agents.