Abstract

The study presents, the experimental results on the successful encapsulation of Penicillamine drug using Sodium
Alginate (SA)/Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) blend as controlled release (CR) polymer matrices. The Penicillamine-
containing polymer blend membranes have been prepared by changing the experimental variables such as PLA,
SA and drug content by solution casting evaporation method. The membranes were characterized by swelling
studies, FTIR, DSC, XRD, SEM, tensile strength measurements and in-vitro release studies. The swelling results
indicated that swelling of polymer membranes decreases with the increasing the amount of PLA. However, no
significant variation in swelling was observed with different amount of Penicillamine loading. The absence of
chemical interactions between active ingredients and polymer was confirmed by FT-IR spectral measurements.
Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were performed to understand the
crystalline nature of drug after encapsulation into the membranes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was
used to study the surface morphology of the membranes. The in vitro studies were carried out in phosphate
buffer pH 7.4 at 37 oC. The results of controlled release tests showed that the amount of Penicillamine release
increased with the increasing the amount of SA in the membrane. Moreover, the release rate of drug increased
as the amount of drug loaded in the membranes increased. All the results indicated that the prepared membrane
was potentially useful in drug delivery systems and the prolonged release rate was observed.