Curcumin encapsulated dual cross linked sodium alginate/ montmorillonite polymeric composite beads for controlled drug delivery

The aim of the present work is fabrication of dual cross linked sodium alginate (SA)/montmorillonite (MMT) microbeads as a potential drug vehicle for extended release of curcumin (CUR). The microbeads were prepared using in situ ion-exchange followed by simple ionotropic gelation technique. The developed beads were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (X-RD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of MMT on encapsulation efficiency of CUR and intercalation kinetics was investigated. Dynamic swelling study and in vitro release study were investigated in simulated intestinal fluid (pH 7.4) and simulated gastric fluid (pH 1.2) at 37 ?C. Results suggested that both the swelling and in vitro release studies were influenced by the pH of test media, which might be suitable for intestinal drug delivery. The release mechanism was analyzed by fitting the release data into KorsmeyerPeppas equation. (c) 2020 Xi'an Jiaotong University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to fabricate dual cross linked sodium alginate/montmorillonite microbeads as a potential drug carrier for extended release of curcumin. Characterization of the microbeads was done using FTIR, DSC, TGA, X-RD, and SEM. The swelling and in vitro release studies of the microbeads were influenced by the pH of test media, indicating their potential for intestinal drug delivery.