Fabrication of Hollow Porous Silica Using a Combined Emulsion Sol–Gel Process and Amphiphilic Triblock Copolymer for Loading of Quercetin

Abstract

Flavonoids have recently attracted significant interest as potential reducing agents, hydrogendonating antioxidants, and singlet oxygen-quenchers. Quercetin, in particular, induces the expression of a gene, known to be associated with cell protection, in dose- and time-dependent manners. Therefore, quercetin may be used as an effective cosmeceutical material useful in the protection of dermal skin. In this study, hollow porous silica spheres used to load quercetin were prepared by using a combined emulsion sol–gel process and triblock copolymer as a template. Fabrication of hollow porous silica spheres was performed under various conditions such as the molar ratios of H2O/TEOS (w) and weight ratios of poloxamer 184/poloxamer 407. Loading of quercetin in hollow porous silica spheres was devised to improve the stability of quercetin and to consider the possibility as a raw cosmetic material. The surface of inclusion complexes of quercetin in hollow porous silicas was modified to enhance the stability of quercetin. The physicochemical properties of the samples were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)-differential thermal analysis (DTA) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and porosity analysis. Determination of quercetin concentration was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis.