Starch Alcogels, Aerogels, and Aerogel-like Xerogels: Adsorption and Release of Theophylline

Abstract

Starch is one of the most abundant and biodegradable natural polysaccharides; it has been widely used in pharmaceutics in tablets, as a disintegrant, or as a porous carrier. In this work, starches in different formsalcogels, aerogels, and low-vacuum-dried materials (named xerogels)were designed and tested as carriers of theophylline. The influence of the starch amylose/amylopectin ratio, concentration in solution, retrogradation time, and drying method (supercritical CO2 drying for aerogels, low-vacuum drying for xerogels) on materials’ density, specific surface area, and morphology was investigated. The precursors before drying were starch alcogels made by water-to-ethanol exchange in retrograded hydrogels. Starch alcogels were loaded with theophylline via impregnation. Loading capacities and efficiencies of alcogels, aerogels, and xerogels were determined, and release of the drug from xerogels and aerogels was evaluated. Two remarkable phenomena were obtained: (1) The low-vacuum drying method resulted in starch aerogel-like materials; i.e., xerogels with low densities and specific surface areas above 100 m2/g. (2) Starch alcogels adsorbed theophylline from ethanol resulting in loading efficiency as high as 250%. The results obtained show a new pathway in making aerogel-like polysaccharide materials without drying in supercritical conditions for potential use as drug carriers.

Recent advances in the fabrication, characterization and application of starch-based materials for active food packaging: hydrogels and aerogels

“…Three types of starch-based aerogels with different densities and surface areas were prepared and loaded with theophylline, including a potato starch aerogel (density 0.33 g cm −3 , surface area 43 m 2 g −1 ), pea starch aerogel (density 0.12 g cm −3 , surface area 217 m 2 g −1 ), and waxy maize starch aerogel (density 0.44 g cm −3 , surface area 17 m 2 g −1 ). 111 The theophylline loading efficiency of the aerogels based on waxy maize starch (240%) was markedly higher than that of aerogels based on potato starch (182%) and pea starch (100%), which was attributed to the noticeably higher density in the waxy maize starch aerogels. What's more, based on the release kinetics experiment, the release profile of theophylline from the starch aerogels varied depending on the formulation.…”

“…Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the parameters of air drying to improve the aerogel characteristics. In the study conducted by Zou et al , 111 a starch-based aerogel with low densities (0.39 g cm −3 ) and specific surface areas above 100 m 2 g −1 (132 m 2 g −1 , specifically) was obtained by the low-vacuum drying method (using a water aspirator created pressure of around 3 kPa), which were close to those of aerogels obtained by supercritical CO 2 drying (density: 0.35 g cm −3 and surface area: 141 m 2 g −1 ). Low-vacuum drying provides a new perspective for the preparation of starch aerogel materials by air drying.…”