38
Views
16
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Microencapsulation using poly(DL-lactic acid) II: Effect of polymer molecular weight on the microcapsule properties

&
Pages 245-254 | Received 08 Aug 1989, Accepted 12 Sep 1989, Published online: 27 Sep 2008
 

Abstract

Poly(DL-lactic acid) (DL-DPA) of three different molecular weights, 20 500; 13 300 and 5200, was used to prepare microcapsules containing differing contents of phenobarbitone (PB), as a reference core. A water/oil (W/O) emulsion evaporation method was used. The effect of polymer molecular weight on the particle size, ‘encapsulation efficiency’, morphology, density, thermal behaviour and swelling property has been reported. A general trend towards lowering the mean microcapsule size, both by volume and population, was observed with respect to lower polymer molecular weight. The gross morphology of the microcapsule surface, encapsulation efficiency and density were unaffected by variations in polymer molecular weight. Differential scanning calorimetric analysis of the microcapsules showed a lowering of glass transition temperature after microencapsulation. The melting endotherm for phenobarbitone also indicated the presence of crystalline drug in the microcapsule matrix. These microcapsules were found to swell in the aqueous environment and the mean size increased linearly with time. However, the rate of swelling was higher with low molecular weight polymer and also depended on core loading.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.