Porous microparticles based on methacrylic copolymers and gellan as drug delivery systems

Two types of porous microparticles based on glycidyl methacrylate, dimethacrylic monomers (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, diethylene glycol dimethacrylate and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate) and gellan were prepared by two methods. The first method was aqueous suspension polymerization in the presence of N-butyl acetate as porogenic agent when the crosslinking and grafting reactions were achieved in a single step. The second method was based on the reaction between hydroxyl groups belonging to gellan and the epoxy groups situated on the surface of porous microparticles based on glycidyl methacrylate and dimethacrylic monomers in basic medium. The microparticles with and without gellan were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, SEM, AFM and TGA. Also, the porous structure was investigated in terms of pore volume, porosity and specific surface. The swelling behaviour in aqueous solution with different pH values as well as sorption studies of cefuroxime sodium salt onto porous microparticles were investigated. The presence of gellan in the structure of the microparticles leads to porous materials characterized by higher specific surface areas (S-sp = 78-140 m(2) g(-1)), higher swelling capacities (S-w = 162%-365%) and higher sorption capacities of the drug (q(e) = 101-147 mg g(-1)) compared to microparticles without gellan in their structures (S-sp = 73-85 m(2) g(-1); S-w = 139%-209%; q(e) = 70-110 mg g(-1)). (c) 2019 Society of Chemical Industry