Mesoporous Fe₃O₄/hydroxyapatite composite for targeted drug delivery

Highlights: • Mesoporous Fe₃O₄/hydroxyapatite composite was synthesized by a simple, efficient and environmental friendly method. • The prepared material had a large surface area, high pore volume, and good magnetic separability. • DOX-loaded Fe₃O₄/hydroxyapatite composite exhibited surprising slow drug release behavior and pH-dependent behavior. - Abstract: In this contribution, we introduced a simple, efficient, and green method of preparing a mesoporous Fe₃O₄/hydroxyapatite (HA) composite. The as-prepared material had a large surface area, high pore volume, and good magnetic separability, which made it suitable for targeted drug delivery systems. The chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX) was used to investigate the drug release behavior of Fe₃O₄/HA composite. The drug release profiles displayed a little burst effect and pH-dependent behavior. The release rate of DOX at pH 5.8 was larger than that at pH 7.4, which could be attributed to DOX protonation in acid medium. In addition, the released DOX concentrations remained at 0.83 and 1.39 μg/ml at pH 7.4 and 5.8, respectively, which indicated slow, steady, and safe release rates. Therefore, the as-prepared Fe₃O₄/hydroxyapatite composite could be an efficient platform for targeted anticancer drug delivery