Study of a microencapsulation process of a virucide agent by a solvent evaporation technique

A highly water-soluble virucide agent was microencapsulated by a water/oil/water emulsification-solvent evaporation method. An aqueous drug solution was emulsified into a solution of polymer in methylene chloride, followed by emulsification of the primary emulsion in an external aqueous phase. Microcapsules were formed after solvent evaporation, the solidification of the microcapsule walls was followed by an optical method. The influence of stirring speed was analysed to find the optimal hydrodynamic conditions with respect to the process yield, corresponding to the weight of obtained microcapsules per litre of water/oil/water emulsion, the initial virucide agent content and the drug release kinetics. The optimal conditions were obtained for the complete suspension speed. The improvement of the microencapsulation process was attempted by increasing the concentration of the primary emulsion and by the reuse of the external aqueous phase after removal of the microcapsules.