The use of nanomaterials for the controlled release of drugs aims to enhance their effectiveness, especially when poorly soluble in water, and achieve their rapid, localized, and effective administration. The present study focuses on the use of a Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (ZIF-8) as vehicle for the transport and controlled release of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) as model due to its favorable physicochemical characteristics. The objective is to synthesize the ZIF-8 material loaded with CIP through encapsulation for subsequent release of the drug in neutral and acid physiological media. In addition, functionalization of the CIP/ZIF compound with magnetic nanoparticles (NP) was sought to increase its traceability through the possible use of magnetic fields. Characterizations by XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDX, and TGA showed a satisfactory synthesis of both pure ZIF-8 and ciprofloxacin-loaded ZIF-8, with high crystallinity and thermal stability. The release profiles showed an abrupt initial release that stabilized over time. A much higher release (20–80% greater) was obtained in acid versus neutral pH in all cases, attributable to the collapse of the ZIF-8 structure in acid media. In addition, functionalization of the material with iron NPs did not affect the behavior of the system during drug release. Antimicrobial activity tests against E. coli and S. aureus showed that ZIF-8 per se exerts antimicrobial activity, while the compounds CIP/ZIF and magnetic CIP/ZIF increased the antimicrobial capacity of pure CIP by 10–20%. The ZIF-8 system has high potential as a drug carrier and release agent for the treatment of diseases, especially those that cause acidification of the cellular environment, achieving a rapid, localized, and targeted action with the possibility of achieving traceability of the system after its magnetic functionalization.

The main objective of this study was to assess the photoactive properties of iron-doped silica xerogels under solar radiation. For this purpose, silica xerogels (XGS) synthesized by the sol-gel method were doped with Fe (III) by two routes: impregnation and polymerization. XGS samples were texturally and chemically characterized by N₂ adsorption, XRD, FTIR, Raman, SEM-EDX, DRS, and PL, evidencing the suitability of using XGS substrates to host iron clusters on their surface with total compatibility. Chlorphenamine (CPM), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and ranitidine (RNT) were used as model compounds. The degradation of the molecules was made under simulated solar radiation testing the synthesis pad, load, material size, and reuse. It was found that XGS doped with Fe by the impregnation route (XGS-Fe-Im) were able to completely degrade CPM and RNT in 30 min and 10 min, respectively, whilst for CIP it achieved the removal of 60% after 1 h of solar radiation exposure, outperforming parent materials and solar radiation by itself. The study of the degradation mechanism elucidated a major influence from the action of HO• radicals. The present investigation offers a potential route of application of XGS Fe-doped materials for the removal of emerging concern contaminants under near real-world conditions.