Drug-Carrying Amino Silane Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles as Potential Vehicles for Delivery of Antibiotics

Drug carrying amino silane coated magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized and used as a flexible magnetic targeted delivery of antibiotics. Magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by chemical co-precipitation method and the surfaces were coated by 3-aminopropyletriethoxy silane. The characteristics of the nanoparticles were examined by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), elemental analysis, and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). TEM shows the average size of 8.6 nm in diameter for modified nanoparticles, XRD confirms the formation of nanoparticles, elemental analysis indicates that amino silane molecules have been bond onto the surface of the nanoparticles and FTIR spectra confirm that APTES and the drugs were bond onto the surface of the nanoparticles. Drug delivery behavior of the amino silane coated MNPs was studied by selecting ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin as model drugs. Effects of pH and temperature on the release of the drugs were studied. The drug loading efficiency was found 93.4 and 91.1 % for ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, respectively. Release kinetics of both drugs showed that at pH 5.5 approximately 22% and 27.13% were released while at pH 7.2 releases occur with nearly 81.7 % and 98.78 % for ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, respectively. In order to evaluate the release kinetics and mechanism of the drugs, different mathematical release models were applied to the released data at pH 7.2. The data was best fitted to the first-order and Higuchi an equations for ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin respectively, which revealed diffusion controlled and Fickian transport.