Fabrication and Characterization of a Porous Silicon Drug Delivery System with an Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition Temperature-Responsive Coating

This paper reports on the fabrication of a pSi-based drug delivery system, functionalized with an initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) polymer film, for the sustainable and temperature-dependent delivery of drugs. The devices were prepared by loading biodegradable porous silicon (pSi) with a fluorescent anticancer drug camptothecin (CPT) and coating the surface with temperature-responsive poly­(<i>N</i>-isopropyl­acrylamide-<i>co</i>-diethylene glycol divinyl ether) (pNIPAM-<i>co</i>-DEGDVE) or non-stimulus-responsive poly­(aminostyrene) (pAS) via iCVD. CPT released from the uncoated oxidized pSi control with a burst release fashion (∼21 nmol/(cm² h)), and this was almost identical at temperatures both above (37 °C) and below (25 °C) the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the switchable polymer used, pNIPAM-<i>co</i>-DEGDVE (28.5 °C). In comparison, the burst release rate from the pSi-pNIPAM-<i>co</i>-DEGDVE sample was substantially slower at 6.12 and 9.19 nmol/(cm² h) at 25 and 37 °C, respectively. The final amount of CPT released over 16 h was 10% higher at 37 °C compared to 25 °C for pSi coated with pNIPAM-<i>co</i>-DEGDVE (46.29% vs 35.67%), indicating that this material can be used to deliver drugs on-demand at elevated temperatures. pSi coated with pAS also displayed sustainable drug delivery profiles, but these were independent of the release temperature. These data show that sustainable and temperature-responsive delivery systems can be produced by functionalization of pSi with iCVD polymer films. Benefits of the iCVD approach include the application of the iCVD coating after drug loading without causing degradation of the drug commonly caused by exposure to factors such as solvents or high temperatures. Importantly, the iCVD process is applicable to a wide array of surfaces as the process is independent of the surface chemistry and pore size of the nanoporous matrix being coated