No abstract

No abstract

A new and simple method was developed to produce gelatin nanoparticles of $ 30-40 nm for use as carriers for drug release applications. The nanoparticles were uniform in size and well dispersed. An anticancer drug, 5-fluorouracil, was encapsulated with an efficiency as high as 85%. The nanoparticles showed sustained release of 5-fluorouracil, and release rates varied with amount of crosslinking in the nanoparticles.

No abstract

No abstract

pH-Sensitive interpenetrating network (IPN) microgels (MGs) of sodium alginate (NaAlg) and acrylic acid have been prepared by using water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion technique. The MGs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffractometer (X-RD). The release of ibuprofen (IB), an anti-inflammatory drug, from these MGs was studied in pH 1.2 and 7.4 media. MG network consists of NaAlg, which disintegrates in the intestinal fluid, while poly(acrylic acid) provides pH-sensitivity to the microgel network. The system developed in this study showed a pH-sensitivity for the release of IB, which was attributed to the diffusion controlled release of the drug through the surfaces of MGs that undergo disintegration after swelling, depending upon the chemical composition of MGs and pH of the medium.

No abstract

In an effort to improve membrane performance of pristine sodium alginate (NaAlg) for 2-propanol dehydration, blend membranes of NaAlg with (hydroxyethyl)cellulose (HEC) (5, 10, and 20 mass %) were prepared. Membranes were prepared by solution casting and cross-linked by a twostage process as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The blend membrane of NaAlg with 10 mass % HEC gave the highest selectivity of 63 000 for 5 mass % water in feed mixture (highest selectivity achieved so far in the literature) by removing 99.97% of water, giving a flux of 0.04 kg/m 2 ‚h. Incorporation of ZSM-5(40) zeolite in the blend membrane increased flux without affecting selectivity. Swelling results are used to study the membrane-solvent interactions. Sorption and diffusion selectivity values were computed from experimental data, which were comparable with the theoretically calculated values obtained from thermodynamic treatment based on Flory-Huggins theory.