Preparation of hollow mesoporous silica nanorods for encapsulating and slowly releasing eugenol

Abstract Fragrances are widely used in many aspects of our lives. They cannot only make people happy, but also treat many diseases. However, excessively fast evaporation rate is one of the main obstacles to the use of spices. In this study, mesoporous silica nanorods (MSNRs) and hollow mesoporous silica nanorods (HMSNRs) were prepared to encapsulate eugenol. These two nano-fragrances were named eugenol@MSNRs and eugenol@HMSNRs, respectively. The morphologies, size, interior structures and pore performances of MSNRs and HMSNRs. Besides, the performances of encapsulation and fragrance release of eugenol@MSNRs and eugenol@HMSNRs were compared and analyzed. The results showed that eugenol@HMSNRs encapsulated more fragrance and were faster to encapsulate compared with eugenol@MSNRs. Both the release rates of eugenol from eugenol@MSNRs and eugenol@HMSNRs were slow. But the eugenol was released from eugenol@MSNRs more slowly.