Study on preparation of “ping-pong” ball shaped chitosan oligosaccharide - based hollow mesoporous carbon carrier for efficient anthocyanins loading

Carriers for efficient loading and delivery of compounds are urgently needed. A multifunctional nanoplatform of ordered hollow mesoporous carbon (HMC) was developed to load anthocyanins (AN) efficiently. The morphology, specific surface area, binding mode, and biocompatibility of HMC were verified. HMCs were uniformly spherical with well-defined cavities and mesoporous shells, similar to a “ping-pong” ball shape, and this shape of HMC provided a more spatial location for the load of the AN. And the best loading result of AN was 33.39% ± 3.00%. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations showed that HMC and AN may bind by electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding, the binding process indicated that HMC contributed to the loading of AN, and the cytotoxicity results showed no significant toxicity of the complex. The homogeneous morphology and good biocompatibility of HMC offer new probabilities for the high effectiveness of oral delivery of active substances. •Hollow mesoporous carbon (HMC) resembling “ping-pong” balls was prepared.•HMC forms a nanocomplex with anthocyanin.•HMC has a better loading capacity for anthocyanin.•HMC binds to anthocyanin through electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding.•HMC-loaded anthocyanin complexes have good biocompatibility.