Separation of macromolecules on the basis of their molecular weight by size exclusion chromatography has long been considered to be caused by the geometry-dependent partition of macromolecules between a continuous phase and the porous interior of a gel or cross-linked bead. The volume of a pore accessible to a solute is limited by its relative dimensions, so larger molecules will have access to a smaller volume and will remain in a bead for a shorter time than smaller solutes. Our recent alternate picture proposes that the partition coefficient can be calculated from a thermodynamic model for the free energy of mixing of the solute with the gel phase. Size-dependent exclusion caused by the unfavorable entropy of mixing associated with the partition is predicted; the magnitude of the effect is modified by enthalpic interactions between the solute and the gel phase. This concept is extended here to describe the partition of macromolecules into a layer of terminally attached polymer chains grafted onto a solid bead. Both simple mean field and self-consistent field theory calculations predict size-dependent entropic exclusion. Experimental results obtained with neutral polymer chains grafted onto solid polystyrene latex beads confirm the predictions.
New hybrid materials were obtained by intercalation of the antioxidant compounds vanillic acid and gallic acid in layered double hydroxides (LDHs) resulting formulations with controlled release and antioxidant activity. The hybrid materials were prepared by using two methods: coprecipitation and ion exchange. X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis confirmed that the antioxidant molecules were intercalated into interlayer spaces of LDHs. The release of the antioxidant compounds was investigated in simulated gastrointestinal solution at 37°C and monitored using a spectrophotometric method. The results prove that these hybrid biocomposites can be classified as controlled release formulations for the antioxidant compounds under study.
Carboxymethyl guar gum (CMGG) synthesized from commercially available polysaccharide was formulated into nanoparticles via ionic gelation using trisodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) as cross-linking agent. Characterisation using a range of analytical techniques (FTIR, NMR, GPC, TGA and DLS) confirmed the CMGG structure and revealed the effect of the CMGG and STMP concentration on the main characteristics of the obtained nanoformulations. The average nanoparticle diameter was found to be around 208 nm, as determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Experiments using simulated gastric and intestinal fluids evidenced significant pH-dependent drug release behaviour of the nanoformulations loaded with Rhodamine B (RhB) as a model drug (loading capacity in excess of 83%), as monitored by UV-Vis. While dose-dependent cytotoxicity was observed, the nanoformulations appeared completely non-toxic at concentrations below 0.3 mg/mL. Results obtained so far suggest that carboxymethylated guar gum nanoparticles formulated with STMP warrant further investigations as polysaccharide based biocompatible drug nanocarriers.
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