On the nanopore confinement of therapeutic drugs into mesoporous silica materials and its implications

This short review deals with the effects of confinement occurring when a therapeutic drug is adsorbed inside the mesopores of silica materials and the implications it may have in the field of controlled drug delivery. Depending on the chemical structure, the drug interacts more or less strongly with the pore surface through the donor/acceptor character of the silanol groups. These interactions can also be tuned when functional groups are grafted on the mesoporous silica materials. The amorphization phenomenon associated to the confinement of the molecules in mesopores is explained and its repercussions on the release of the drug are reviewed. Additionally, we provide insights into the physical stability of the encapsulated drug confined inside the mesopores of silica materials.