Yashawant Pralhad Bhalerao and Shrikant J Wagh
Gujarat Technological University, India Gujarat Power Engineering and Research Institute (GPERI), India
Title: Thymol loaded sodium alginate and ethyl cellulose microparticles by precipitation technique: A comparative study
Biography
Biography: Yashawant Pralhad Bhalerao and Shrikant J Wagh
Abstract
Biodegradable polymers are widely used as a drug carrier due to their properties such as better encapsulation efficiency and controlled/sustained release action. Thymol loaded sodium alginate and ethyl cellulose microparticles can be successfully prepared by precipitation method without any incompatibility issues. The main objective of this work was to suitably encapsulate thymol in a biodegradable polymer shell by precipitation technique so that a comparison can be done on the basis of results, such as encapsulation efficiency, release rate, etc. Sodium alginate and ethyl cellulose were used as a polymer shell material and thymol as a core or drug material. The effect of drug-polymer ratio, stirring speed, and time on encapsulation efficiency and drug release were studied. No chemical interaction between thymol and sodium alginate, as well as between thymol and ethyl cellulose were observed in the FTIR study, and the beads obtained were spherical and distinct in nature as seen in SEM analysis. XRD analysis of the sample reveals that majority of the drug was entrapped within the polymer and is dispersed homogeneously at molecular level. Formulation showed that the encapsulation method used gives a sustained action in in-vitro release. Formulation between thymol and sodium alginate shows maximum 95.18±0.43% drug release in 10 h, whereas the formulation between thymol and ethyl cellulose shows maximum 98.36±0.37% drug release in 10 hours. Encapsulation efficiency (EE) of thymol loaded ethyl cellulose and sodium alginate microparticles shows direct relationship with the polymer concentration i.e. EE is higher at higher polymer concentration and minimum with lower polymer concentration. (Or polymer concentration increases the EE). The percent EE between thymol and sodium alginate of the microparticle was calculated to be in the range 31.18% to 96.81%. On the other hand the EE between thymol and ethyl cellulose was obtained in the range of 63.12% to 75.47%. This study revealed that the ethyl cellulose is a promising shell material for sustained delivery of thymol which might be due to the smaller particle size of the microparticles.