Lansoprazole loading of polymers by supercritical carbon dioxide impregnation: Impacts of process parameters

This is the first work to load HPMC and PVP by the lansoprazole (LPZ) through supercritical solvent impregnation (SSI). The process was carried out at laboratory scale under various sets of conditions in terms of pressure (150-250 bar), temperature (308-328 K), and impregnation time (60-180 min). The results showed that an increase in any of the investigated parameters increased the drug loading, and that the temperature imposed the strongest effect on the drug loading. Moreover, impregnation loadings onto the PVP and HPMC were found to range from 0.56% to 0.61% and from 1.16% to 1.30%, respectively. For both polymers, the best results were obtained at a pressure of 250 bar and a temperature of 328 K with an impregnation time of 180 min. The processed drug was further investigated by XRD, SEM, DSC, FTIR, and DLS analyses. The final results indicated superior loading of the drug onto the HPMC rather than the PVP. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.