Carbon nanotubes buckypapers for potential transdermal drug delivery

A. SCHWENGBER; H. J. PRADO; D. ZILLI; P. R. BONELLI; A. L. CUKIERMAN

MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING. C, BIOMIMETIC MATERIALS, SENSORS AND SYSTEMS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2015 vol. 57 p. 7 - 13

0928-4931

Drug loaded buckypapers based ondifferent types of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)were prepared and characterized inorder to evaluate their potentialities for the design of novel transdermal drugdelivery systems. Lab-synthesized CNTs as well as commercial samples wereemployed. Clonidine hydrochloride was used as model drug, and the influence ofcomposition of the drug loaded buckypapers and processing variables on in vitrorelease profiles was investigated. To examine the influence of the drug naturethe evaluation was further extended to buckypapers prepared with flurbiprofenand one type of CNTs, their selection being based on the results obtained withthe former drug. Scanning electronic microscopy images indicated that the modeldrugs were finely dispersed on the CNTs. Differential scanning calorimetry, andX-ray diffraction pointed to an amorphous state of both drugs in thebuckypapers. A higher degree of CNT?drug superficial interactions resulted in aslower release of the drug. These interactions were in turn affected by thetype of CNTsemployed (singlewall or multiwall CNTs), their functionalizationwith hydroxyl or carboxyl groups, the chemical structure of the drug, and theCNT:drug mass ratio. Furthermore, the application of a second layer of drugfree CNTs on the loaded buckypaper, led to decelerate the drug release and toreduce the burst effect.