A stable porous metal–organic
framework (MOF), Zr-diaminostilbenedicarboxylate
(Zr-DASDCA), was synthesized and modified with oxalyl chloride (OC)
or terephthaloyl chloride (TC) to introduce various functional groups
onto the Zr-DASDCA. Both pristine and functionalized Zr-DASDCAs, together
with activated carbon, were used as a potential carrier for ibuprofen
(IBU) storage and delivery. Zr-DASDCAs, especially the modified ones
(OC-Zr-DASDCA and TC-Zr-DASDCA), showed competitive results in IBU
delivery. Specifically, the release rate in phosphate-buffered saline
solution at pH 7.4 was nearly constant (
R
2
≈ 0.98) for up to 10 days, which would be very effective
in IBU dosing to the human body. Moreover, the release rate could
be controlled by changing the pH of the releasing solution. The rate
of IBU release from both pristine and modified Zr-DASDCAs at pH 7.4
and 3.0 was also explained with a few interactions such as H-bonding
and electrostatic repulsion, together with the relative pore size
of the Zr-DASDCAs. Therefore, the results suggested that functionalization
of MOFs via postsynthetic modification, especially with OC and TC,
to introduce various functional groups onto MOFs is an effective approach
to not only reducing the release rate of IBU but also inducing a constant
release of IBU for as long as 10 days.