Fiborous and tubular clays to modified release of drugs: a review

In recent decades the use of clay minerals in the areas of Materials Science and Engineering has received notable attention for its use in carrying of drugs. Among the various types of clay, and fibrous tubes have been used in the preparation of bionanocompósitos due to their inherent properties, for example high surface area. This research aimed a review at the literature of the use of tubular and fibrous clays for the carrying of drugs. The search for articles was conducted in the Web of Science database, using combination of terms: Fibrous Clay and drug delivery, Tubular Clay and drug delivery, Halloysite and drug delivery, imogolite and drug delivery, drug delivery and Palygoskite and Sepiolite and drug delivery. Found total of 36 articles during the search. It was observed that most of the clay articles used in combination with other materials (with formation of composites and blends), in particular polymers in order to extend the properties that improve the vectoring of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), such as modification pore size, the pH, the binding energy between molecules, among others. Thus, it is clear that the interest in the use of clays in the therapeutic field has increased, showing the relevance of research in the area of drugs and materials.

Fibrous clay; tubular clay; clay; drug release