Loading and Sustained Release of Benzyl Ammonium Chloride (BAC) in Nano-Clays

Benzyl ammonium chloride (BAC) is a broad-spectrum bactericide, but vulnerable to leaching by water. In this paper, halloysite nanotubes (HNT) and montmorillonite (MMT) were used as drug carriers to load BAC, in order to achieve good anti-mildew activity and long-term sustained release properties. The HNT and MMT nano-composites were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and nitrogen adsorption/desorption. XRD results showed that BAC intercalated the interlayer of MMT, and expanded the interlayer spacing from 1.15 nm to 1.75 nm. Pore analysis showed that BAC decreased the cavity of halloysite nanotubes to a certain extent, which indicated that BAC loaded inside the lumen of HNT successfully. TG analysis showed that the loading capacity of MMT to BAC was higher than HNT. The accelerated-release experiments revealed both two clays have significant sustained-release effects on BAC, and the releasing rate of HNT was relatively lower. Both HNT and MMT have promising application prospects as sustained-release carriers. The inhibition test showed that BAC in nano-clay has good anti-mildew resistance performance.