Surfactant-assisted sol-gel synthesis of forsterite nanoparticles as a novel drug delivery system.

In the present study, forsterite nanoparticles were synthesized via surfactant-assisted sol-gel method using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. The effects of CTAB contents and heat treatment on the textural properties and drug release from nanoparticles were investigated. The synthesized powders were studied by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis and transmission electron microscope images. Mg2SiO4 materials demonstrated mesoporous characteristics and large specific surface area ranging from 159 to 30 m(2)/g. The TEM results showed that forsterite nanorods had diameters about 4 nm and lengths ranging from 10 to 60 nm. It was found that the samples with 6g CTAB show slower drug release rate than the other specimens, which is due to smaller pore size. This study revealed that the drug delivery of forsterite can be tailored by changing the amount of surfactant.