Preparation and characterization of lipid microcapsules coated with SiO2@Al2O3 core-shell nanoparticles as carries for lipophilic drug delivery

Solid lipid microparticles coated by silica nanoparticles and loaded with lipophilic drugs: curcumin; hydrocortisone, nimesulide or alpha-tocopherol were investigated. Complex stabilization of paraffin micro particles was achieved through the formation of steric multicomponent adsorption layer of surfactant Eumulgin O10, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and SiO2@Al2O3 core-shell nanoparticles, which provided protective action and steric hindrance to coalescence before paraffin solidification and to aggregation after paraffin solidification. Lipid particles with sizes in the range from 365 to 700 nm were produced using the combined effect of three types of stabilizer. High encapsulation efficiency was demonstrated; almost all the amounts of drugs were encapsulated in paraffin microcapsules. The results indicate that paraffin microparticles coated with silica nanoparticles are promising for application as delivery systems for lipophilic compounds. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.