Biomolecules induce the synthesis of hollow hierarchical mesoporous structured hydroxyapatite microflowers: application in macromolecule drug delivery

A novel hollow HAp microflower with hierarchical mesoporous structure was designed through biomolecules induction and explored as macromolecular drug carrier. It is found that biomolecules play a vital role in the formation of hollow morphology and the construction of hierarchical mesoporous structure, which could remarkably improve the specific surface area of microflowers. Moreover, the microflowers display a higher drug loading capacity (263 ± 7.2 mg/g), sustained release behavior and exhibit a better biocompatibility in the cytotoxicity test, suggesting the microflowers can be regarded as a promising candidate in macromolecular drug delivery fields. In addition, it is proved that the excellent drug delivery property is attributed not only to the interaction among carrier, drug and medium environment but also to the pore structure and morphology of carrier. Over all, the work represents a versatile, new route toward the preparation of hollow HAp-based macromolecular drug carrier with hierarchical mesoporous structural features and provides new insight into the optimization of macromolecular drug delivery performance.