## 4 Conclusions  
The study confirms that it is possible to coat gold nanoparticles with ITZ and suggests that the diffusion process rate may be improved in samples containing smaller gold nanoparticles coated with ITZ compared to the control sample without AuNPs loaded into carbopol hydrogels. Augmenting the specific contact area of AuNPs with ITZ enhances the diffusion processes, which in turn impacts the efficacy of ITZ in hydrogels. Additionally, there were no observed interactions between ITZ and AuNPs. Therefore, AuNPs are a suitable carrier for ITZ in carbopol hydrogels. Further investigation is needed to understand the antifungal effect of developing nanoparticles using additional reference strains. Obtaining other types of gold nanoparticles such as nanostars or nanorods may be beneficial for the assessment of antifungal potential. Optimization of the nanoparticle size or using different types of nanomaterials including silver or copper may also lead to obtaining an effective topical form of itraconazole. In the long term, it is essential to optimize the methodology for AuNPs synthesis and carbopol hydrogel preparation.  
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app142311125/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app142311125/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app142311125/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app142311125/s1)), Scheme S1. Scheme of the conducted experiment; Figure S1. The apparatus used for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles; Figure S2. Colors of the reaction mixtures obtained after the individual syntheses; Figure S3. Mixtures obtained and control sample after the procedure of gold nanoparticles coating with itraconazole; Figure S4. Calibration curve of the spectrophotometric method for the determination of itraconazole in acceptor medium; Figure S5. Box-and-whisker plot comparing the diameters of nanoparticles obtained by syntheses 1, 2, and 3; Figure S6. Box-and-whisker plot comparing mean sizes of gold nanoparticles obtained in syntheses 1-3 after itraconazole coating; Figure S7. Diagram comparing X-ray diffraction for gold nanoparticles after itraconazole coating and for itraconazole; Table S1. Mean values of itraconazole released for all obtained gel formulations per cm\({}^{2}\) membrane surface area; Table S2. Rate of diffusion processes through a semi-permeable membrane over time for all gel formulations as a function of time element; Table S3. Diffusion rate parameter values for all gel formulations calculated for each vessel of the release apparatus separately (N1-N6); Table S4. Analysis of variance; Table S5. [PERSON]'s test of homogeneity of variance; Table S6. Brownian-Forsythe test of homogeneity of variance; Table S7. Kruskala-Wallis test by ranks; Table S8. \(p\)-value for multiple comparisons; Table S9. Results of [PERSON]'s LSD Test for Candida albicans inhibition zones of tested formulations; Table S10. Photos of inhibitions zone for tested formulation.  
Conceptualization, R.B.; methodology, W.O.-S., R.B., P.B. and K.K.; formal analysis, D.B., R.B. and W.O.-S.; investigation, R.B., K.K., P.B. and D.B.; resources, R.B., W.O.-S. and P.B.; writing--original draft preparation, R.B.; writing--review and editing, R.B., W.O.-S., M.S. and A.J.-B.; visualization, R.B.; supervision, W.O.-S. and M.S.; project administration, R.B.; funding acquisition, R.B., W.O.-S. and M.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research received no external funding.  
**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Data Availability Statement:** The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.