A study of chitosan hydrogel with embedded mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded by ibuprofen as a dual stimuli-responsive drug release system for surface coating of titanium implants

• A chitosan hydrogel with embedded mesoporous silica nanoparticles was formed as a thick film of the titanium plate under negative bias. • A model drug ibuprofen was loaded into the MSNs and thus introduced into the complex hydrogel formed on the titanium plate. • The release of ibuprofen from the loaded chitosan/MSNs complex hydrogel is a pH and electro-responsive and follows a zero order profile. In this study, the complex pH and electro responsive system made of chitosan hydrogel with embedded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) was evaluated as a tunable drug release system. As a model drug, ibuprofen (IB) was used; its adsorption in MSNs was evidenced by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). In order to prepare the complex drug release system, the loaded particles IB-MSNs were dispersed in chitosan solution and then the complex IB-MSNs/chitosan film of 2 mm thickness was deposited as a hydrogel on the titanium electrode. The codeposition of components was performed under a negative biasing of the titanium electrode at −0.75 mA/cm 2 current density during 30 min. The IB release from the IB-MSNs/chitosan hydrogel film was studied as dependent on pH of the release media and electrical conditions applied to the titanium plate. When incubating the complex hydrogel film in buffers with different pH, the IB release followed a near zero-order profile, though its kinetics varied. Compared to the spontaneous IB release from the hydrogel in 0.9% NaCl solution (at 0 V), the application of negative biases to the coated titanium plate had profound effluences on the release behavior. The release was retarded when −1.0 V was applied, but a faster kinetics was observed at −5.0 V. These results imply that a rapid, mild and facile electrical process for covering titanium implants by complex IB-MSNs/chitosan hydrogel films can be used for controlled drug delivery applications.