Abstract
Template-synthesized mesoporous carbons were successfully used in in vitro investigations of controlled delivery of three model drugs, captopril, furosemide, and ranitidine hydrochloride. Captopril and furosemide exhibited desorption kinetics over 30–40 h, and ranitidine HCl had a complete release time of 5–10 h. As evident from the slow release kinetics, we contend that our mesoporous carbon is an improved drug-delivery medium compared to state-of-the-art porous silica-based substrates. The mesoporous carbons, synthesized from phloroglucinol and lignin, a synthetic and a sustainable precursor, respectively, exhibit BET surface area of 200–400 m2 g-1 and pore volume of 0.2–0.6 cm3 g-1. The phloroglucinol-based carbon has narrower pore widths and higher pore volume than the lignin-derived counterpart and maintains a longer release time. Numerical modeling of the release kinetics data reveals that the diffusivities of all the drugs from lignin-based carbon media are of equivalent magnitude (10-22 to 10-24 m2 s-1). However, a tailored reduction of pore width in the sorbent reduces the diffusivity of smaller drug molecules (captopril) by an order of magnitude. Thus, engineered pore morphology in our synthesized carbon sorbent, along with its potential to tailor the chemistry of its interaction with sorbet, can be exploited for optimal delivery system of a preferred drug within its therapeutic level and below the level of toxicity.
