Additive effects of rice husk-based carbon-silica composites on adsorption of diclofenac sodium and carbamazepine from aqueous solutions.

The present study investigated the adsorption of diclofenac sodium (DCF) and carbamazepine (CBZ) on carbon-silica composites (CSC), activated carbon (RH-AC) and biogenic silica (RH-BS) based on rice husks from aqueous solutions. The materials were characterised using scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, nitrogen sorption and elemental analysis. These methods provided essential information on the morphology, chemical composition, textural properties and surface characteristics of porous materials. The results of the adsorption studies demonstrate that the investigated materials exhibit varying adsorption capacities for DCF and CBZ. The maximum adsorption capacity was achieved by CSCs, with 1111 mg g-1 for DCF and 455 mg g-1 for CBZ and indicates additive effects on the adsorption capacity of CSCs compared to RH-AC and RH-BS. In addition to the hydrogen bonds and the π-π electron donor-acceptor interactions of the carbon component, further hydrogen bonds are formed by the silanol groups of the silica component. The CSCs derived from rice husks represent an innovative approach to the more efficient removal of pharmaceutical residues from wastewater. This is accomplished by utilizing a single starting material for both components, thereby yielding a unique structural combination.

Characterization of Drug Release from Mesoporous SiO2-Based Membranes with Variable Pore Structure and Geometry.

Transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDSs) play important roles in therapy due to distinct advantages over other forms and types of drug application. While common TDDS patches mainly consist of polymeric matrices so far, inorganic carriers show numerous advantages such as high mechanical stability, possible re-use and re-loading of drugs, and a broad chemical compatibility with therapeutically relevant compounds and chemical enhancers. Mesoporous glasses can be prepared in different monolithic shapes, and offer a particularly wide range of possible pore volumes, pore diameters, and specific surface areas. Further, they show high loading capacities and favorable physical, technical, and biological properties. Here, we explored for the first time monolithic SiO2-based carriers as sustained release systems of therapeutic drugs. In an ideally stirred vessel as model system, we systematically analyzed the influence of pore diameter, pore volume, and the dimensions of glass monoliths on the loading and sustained release of different drugs, including anastrozole, xylazine, imiquimod, levetiracetam, and flunixin. Through multilinear regression, we calculated the influence of different parameters on drug loading and diffusion coefficients. The systematic variation of the mesoporous glass properties revealed pore volumes and drug loading concentrations, but not pore diameter or pore surface area as important parameters of drug loading and release kinetics. Other relevant effectors include the occurrence of lateral diffusion within the carrier and drug-specific properties such as adsorption. The structure-property relationships derived from our data will allow further fine-tuning of the systems according to their desired properties as TDDS, thus guiding towards optimal systems for their use in transdermal drug applications.

Low-Cost Microwave-Assisted Partial Pseudomorphic Transformation of Biogenic Silica.

This work introduces a cost and time efficient procedure to specifically increase mesopore volume and specific surface area of biogenic silica (specific surface area: 147 m2 g-1 and mesopore volume: 0.23 cm3 g-1) to make it suitable for applications in adsorption or as catalyst support. The target values were a specific surface area of ~500 m2 g-1 and a mesopore volume of ~0.40-0.50 cm3 g-1 as these values are industrially relevant and are reached by potential concurring products such as precipitated silica, silica gel, and fumed silica. The applied process of partial pseudomorphic transformation was carried out as a single reaction step in a microwave reactor instead of commonly used convective heating. In addition, the conventionally used surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) was substituted by the low-cost surfactant (Arquad® 16-29, cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTACl) aqueous solution). The influence of microwave heating, type of surfactant as well as the concentration of NaOH and CTACl on the textural and structural properties of the modified biogenic silica was investigated using nitrogen adsorption as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the textural parameters of the modified biogenic silica can be exactly controlled by the amount of NaOH in the reaction solution. By variation of the NaOH concentration, specific surface areas in the range of 215-1,001 m2 g-1 and mesopore volumes of 0.25-0.56 cm3 g-1 were achieved after reaction at 393 K for 10 min. The presented microwave route using the low-cost surfactant solution decreases the reaction time by 99% and as shown in an example for German prices, lowers the costs for the surfactant by 76-99%.