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Novel bioresorbable and bioeliminable surfactants for microsphere preparation
P Bouillot1, V Babak, E Dellacherie
1Laboratoire de Chimie Physique Macromoleculaire, ENSIC, Nancy, France. p.bouillot@bris.ac.uk
Purpose:
The objective of this work is to prepare microspheres by the emulsion-solvent evaporation process using MPOE-PLA copolymers as the matrix material and/or the surfactant. This preparation was studied in order to avoid the use of PVA as the surfactant in the process.
Methods:
Two series of MPOE-PLA copolymers were synthesised. The first, with a long and constant length PLA chain (45,000 g.mol(-1), was used as the matrix material, the second, with short PLA chains (< or = 2.200 g.mol(-1)), and different HLB as the surfactant. Microspheres were prepared by the "simple" and "double" emulsion methods. The steric stabilization effect of the copolymers was investigated using confocal microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
Results:
Confocal microscopy and XPS analysis showed that the microspheres prepared using MPOE5K-PLA0.5K as the surfactant and MPOE-PLA45K copolymers as the matrix material had an MPOE coating present at the microsphere surface. This hydrophilic layer ensures steric stabilization of the particles.
Conclusions:
MPOE-PLA copolymers can be used for the preparation of particles instead of PVA and their use can be extended whenever a biocompatible and bioeliminable surfactant is required for biological or medical applications.