Diffusion Modeling and In Vitro Release Kinetics Studies of Curcumin-Loaded Superparamagnetic Nanomicelles in Cancer...

The purpose of this study was to investigate in vitro drug release kinetics and to develop diffusion model of curcumin loaded Pluronic F127/Oleic acid(OA)-Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The prepared superparamagnetic nanoparticles by co-precipitation technique were characterized by the average size, size distribution, crystallinity, colloidal stability and magnetic property. The release of curcumin was triggered by an acidic environment in pH 5.0 of phosphate buffer saline. Release data of various curcumin loading (15, 25 and 30 ppm) were fitted using non-linear first-order, second-order, Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas model. All the curcumin release mechanism followed Korsmeyer-Peppas model with n values less than 0.45 indicating the Fickian diffusion of curcumin from the prepared nanomicelles. The dynamic of controlled drug release of dilute curcumin loading was well described by a combination of diffusion and first-order release rate. The corresponding diffusion coefficient and kinetic rate were 9.1 × 10^-7 cm²⋅min^-1 and 6.51 × 10^-7 min^-1, which were used as controlled release to achieve the desired curcumin constant release rate in the delivery system.