Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Inclusion Phenomena and Macrocyclic Chemistry https://doi.org/10.1007/s10847-020-00978-z ORIGINAL ARTICLE Evaluation of intercalated layered materials as an antimicrobial and drug delivery system: a comparative study Adel Mokhtar 1,2  · Farid Bennabi 3  · Soumia Abdelkrim 2  · Amina Sardi 4  · Bouhadjar Boukoussa 2,5  · Amina Souna 2  · Abdelkader Bengueddach 2  · Mohamed Sassi 2 Received: 13 August 2019 / Revised: 23 November 2019 / Accepted: 17 January 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract The aim of this work was to prepare hybrid organo-layered materials using intercalation process then evaluated them as a drug release and antibacterial materials. Four kinds of organo-layered materials cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-bentonite (CTA-bent), ampicillin-bentonite (AMP-bent), CTA-magadiite (CTA-mag) and ampicillin-magadiite (AMP-mag) have been prepared and characterized using several techniques. The results showed that the CTA and AMP molecules are incorporated between the interlayer spaces, subsequently leading to an increase of the basal spacing of bentonite and magadiite solids, in which preserving their two-dimensional character. Antibacterial activities of the intercalated layered materials were deter- mined against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. The ranking of antibacterial activity of the intercalated materials was as organo-modified bentonite > organo-modified magadiite. In vitro drug release profile in simulated intestinal fluid pH 7.4 at 37 °C was evaluated. A satisfactory percent of cumulative AMP release from AMP-bent was observed. The cumula- tive drug release from AMP-bent and AMP-mag was 31.13% and 25.24%, respectively. This work highlighted the role of the natural surface of layered materials in the release of a drug by involving surface-drug interaction forces. Keywords Layered materials · Thermal stability · Ampicillin · Quaternary ammonium · Antibacterial activity · Drug release Introduction In recent years, revenues of controlled release systems for active substances reached more than 20% of total sales of pharmaceuticals [1–3]. To elaborate these drug release sys- tems against bacterial pathogen, the most important aspect is the choice of the material support for active principle. Correspondingly, layered materials such as smectites pre- cisely the bentonite are good candidates as drug delivery frameworks [4–6]. Layered materials, also called two-dimensional (2D) materials [ 7–10], which include extended sheets with a thickness of up to a few nanometers corresponding roughly to one or a fraction of the crystallographic unit cell [10]. These materials can take various modifications with the preservation of the original internal structure of these layers. Such as, expanded and retention in the interlayer space can create a supplemental level of struc- ture in which provide diverse properties, these phenom- enas are the most frequent characteristics for the layered materials modification. Recognized as host lattices with a Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10847-020-00978-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Adel Mokhtar mokhtar.adel80@yahoo.com; adel.mokhtar@cu-relizane.dz 1 Département de Génie des Procédés, Institut des Sciences et Technologies, Centre Universitaire Ahmed Zabana, Relizane, Algeria 2 Laboratoire de Chimie des Matériaux (LCM), Faculté des Sciences Exactes et Appliquées Université Oran1, BP 1524, Oran El M’Naouer, 31000 Oran, Algeria 3 Laboratoire de Chimie Appliquée (LACC), Centre Universitaire Ain Temouchent, Ain Temouchent, Algeria 4 Département de Chimie, Faculté des Sciences Exactes et Informatique, Université Hassiba Ben Bouali, 02000 Chlef, Algeria 5 Département de Génie des Matériaux, Faculté de Chimie, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Mohamed Boudiaf, BP 1505, El-Mnaouer, 31000 Oran, Algeria