Porous alumina as potential nanostructures for drug delivery applications, synthesis and characteristics

One of the inorganic NPs that have recently piqued researchers' interest in different industries is aluminum oxide (alumina). In this review, we go through applications of alumina in biomedical engineering with a focus on drug delivery. Various physical and chemical properties of alumina that have made it a suitable candidate for biomedical applications are investigated. Different phases of this metal oxide are introduced. The most common synthesis methods for obtaining biomedical-grade alumina with suitable properties specific to each field of biomedical engineering are reviewed. Cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of alumina is investigated and properties of alumina that make it biocompatible along with strategies that can make pure alumina more biocompatible are examined. Literature reports on applications of alumina as a drug carrier have been reviewed and novel stra-tegies for enhancing therapeutic efficiency of alumina-based nanocarriers have been introduced through these reports. The goal of this review is to provide the latest achievements in the steaming research conducted on application of alumina as a drug carrier. By reading this paper, readers' knowledge of latest progress made on alumina drug delivery will be updated and the direction for future studies on enhancing biocompatibility and therapeutic efficiency of alumina-based nanocarriers will be clarified.