Silica Materials for Medical Applications

The two main applications of silica-based materials in medicine and biotechnology, i.e. for bone-repairing devices and for drug delivery systems, are presented and discussed. The influence of the structure and chemical composition in the final characteristics and properties of every silica-based material is also shown as a function of the both applications presented. The adequate combination of the synthesis techniques, template systems and additives leads to the development of materials that merge the bioactive behavior with the drug carrier ability. These systems could be excellent candidates as materials for the development of devices for tissue engineering

Mesoporous materials for heavy metal ion adsorption synthesized by displacement of polymeric template

A successful application of the template displacement synthesis to the polymer templated mesoporous silica SBA-15 resulted in the preparation of materials with high surface area and open porosity. It was shown for the first time that such procedure is applicable for neutral polymer templated silica-based materials. Some of the materials, particularly the sample with attached 1-allyl-3-propylthiourea functionality, exhibited promising properties towards mercury ion adsorption. The maximum mercury loading from aqueous solution is 0.16 g Hg2+/g or 0.8 mmol Hg2+/g. The mercury desorption was accomplished by washing the mercury-loaded samples with aqueous thiourea solution.close121