Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026
07:44
Fabrication of Pulsatile Polymeric Microparticles Encapsulating Rabies Antigen
Published on: May 12, 2023
Polymer encapsulation of amoxicillin microparticles by SAS process.
A Montes1, E Baldauf, M D Gordillo
1Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, University of Cádiz , Puerto Real (Cádiz) , Spain.
Journal of Microencapsulation
|May 25, 2013
Summary
This study explored encapsulating amoxicillin (AMC) with ethyl cellulose (EC) using a supercritical antisolvent (SAS) process. Optimal conditions were found to be crucial for successful drug encapsulation, with lower drug-to-polymer ratios favoring encapsulation over composite formation.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Pharmaceutical Technology
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Controlled drug delivery systems aim to improve therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance.
- Ethyl cellulose (EC) is a biodegradable polymer suitable for developing sustained-release drug formulations.
- Supercritical antisolvent (SAS) processing offers a tunable method for microparticle formation and encapsulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the encapsulation of amoxicillin (AMC) microparticles with ethyl cellulose (EC) using the supercritical antisolvent (SAS) process.
- To evaluate the impact of process parameters on the encapsulation efficiency and characteristics of AMC-EC systems.
- To assess the in vitro drug release profiles of the resulting materials for potential drug delivery applications.
Main Methods:
- Amoxicillin (AMC) microparticles were prepared via SAS and subsequently coated with ethyl cellulose (EC) in dichloromethane (DCM).
- A suspension of AMC microparticles in EC/DCM solution was sprayed into supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2).
- Characterization involved Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).
Main Results:
- Powder precipitation occurred in all experiments, but successful amoxicillin encapsulation was achieved in approximately 50% of the trials.
- Lower amoxicillin-to-ethyl cellulose ratios favored encapsulation; higher ratios resulted in composite materials rather than true encapsulates.
- Increasing the AMC:EC ratio generally led to higher percentages of AMC in the precipitated powders.
Conclusions:
- The supercritical antisolvent process can be utilized for amoxicillin-ethyl cellulose encapsulation, but process parameters, particularly the drug-to-polymer ratio, are critical.
- Achieving true encapsulation requires careful optimization to avoid the formation of composite materials.
- Further evaluation is needed to determine the suitability of these composite materials for drug delivery applications based on their in vitro release profiles.
