Ceramic Nanoparticles: Fabrication Methods and Applications in Drug Delivery

Ceramic nanoparticles are primarily made up of oxides, carbides, phosphates and carbonates of metals and metalloids such as calcium, titanium, silicon, etc. They have a wide range of applications due to a number of favourable properties, such as high heat resistance and chemical inertness. Out of all the areas of ceramic nanoparticles applications, biomedical field is the most explored one. In the biomedical field, ceramic nanoparticles are considered to be excellent carriers for drugs, genes, proteins, imaging agents etc. To be able to act as a good and successful drug delivery agent, various characteristics of nanoparticles need to be controlled, such as size range, surface properties, porosity, surface area to volume ratio, etc. In achieving these properties on the favourable side, the method of preparation and a good control over process variables play a key role. Choosing a suitable method to prepare nanoparticles, along with loading of significant amount of drug(s) leads to development of effective drug delivery systems which are being explored to a great extent. Ceramic nanoparticles have been successfully used as drug delivery systems against a number of diseases, such as bacterial infections, glaucoma, etc., and most widely, against cancer. This review gives a detailed account of commonly used methods for synthesising nanoparticles of various ceramic materials, along with an overview of their recent research status in the field of drug delivery.