Morphology controlled nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon vehicles for sustained release of paracetamol

The design of smart nanoporous vehicles for efficient and pH-dependent drug delivery is substantial. Due to their adjusted properties, they can release drugs in a controlled manner and maintain their optimum concentrations in the specific sites of the body. As a consequence, the bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy of pharmaceutics can be improved. In this work, novel nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbons have been attained as platforms for paracetamol -the antipyretic and analgesic drug. The carbon carriers were synthesized via an aqueous coop-erative assembly route. Using L-arginine and L-lysine as polymerization catalysts, along with 3-aminophenol/ resorcinol as nitrogen/carbon sources enabled enriching carbon materials with different nitrogen content (0.22-7.73%). The molar ratio of resorcinol and 3-aminophenol affected the structure ordering, morphology, and textural parameters of carriers. N-doped carbon materials revealed Langmuir-type adsorption of paracetamol (up to -148 mg g-1). The drug release from carbon surfaces occurred in a pH-dependent manner within 2 or 24 h. The controlled paracetamol liberation was observed mainly in an acidic medium. Providing an environment mimicking saliva and gastric fluid altered the percentage of paracetamol release from-40% to 100%. As the nitrogen content in the carbon structure increased, more paracetamol was released.