Novel Fe3O4@ZnO@mSiO2 Nanocarrier for Targeted Drug Delivery and Controllable Release with Microwave Irradiation

In this paper, we constructed a novel core–shell structured nanocarrier used as a drug carrier to investigate the storage and controllable release properties of the cancer chemotherapeutic drug etoposide (VP16). The new composite nanocomposite composed of a mesoporous silica shell with magnetic Fe 3 O 4 core and ZnO interlayer with a core–shell structure was prepared by a simple process. The mesoporous nanocarrier possesses high surface area (643.9 m 2 /g), provides large accessible pore volume (0.32 cm 3 /g) for the adsorption of drug molecules, and has a high magnetization saturation value (56.8 emu/g) for drug targeting under foreign magnetic fields, and the ZnO interlayer acts as a good microwave absorber with excellent microwave thermal response property for microwave-triggered drug release (the VP16 release of over 85% under microwave discontinuous irradiation outclasses the 14% within 10 h only stirring release). This multifunctional system shows a good performance for targeting delivery and controllable release of anticancer drugs based on all the properties they possess.