Production of alginate microspheres of various sizes under the influence of an electrostatic field with the help of electrospray method
Abstract
Background: Microspheres obtained from polymers, both natural and synthetic origin, have found application in chemical-pharmaceutical, food industries and in agriculture. Despite this, various methods of obtaining them are actively developing. The main requirements for the preparation of microspheres are low cost, homogeneity of the end product, mild conditions of their obtaining. One of the promising methods to produce the microspheres, which meets the stated requirements, is the electrospray method. At the present time, a large number of studies have been carried out to study the effect of an inhomogeneous electric field on the dimensions of microspheres from polymeric materials, while at the same time there are practically no published reports devoted to the investigation of the influence of a homogeneous electric field on their dimensions.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was the investigation of the influence of the electrostatic field uniformity on the size of the sodium alginate microspheres obtained by means of electrospray.
Materials and methods: The sodium alginate microspheres were prepared by the electrospray method, on the condition of homogeneity of electrostatic field formed between the contacts of the device. Sodium alginate of low viscosity (15·10-3–25·10-3 Pa·s) was used in the work. As a gel solution, a 2% solution of CaCl2 was used. The sizes of the microspheres were evaluated with a confocal microscope AxioObzerver Z1 (Carl Zeiss, Germany).
Results: During the study, there were revealed the main parameters of the experimental setup, which affected the sizes of the obtained microspheres. These include the magnitude of the voltage applied to the plates determining the shape of the field, the distance between the plates, and the rate of the polymer supplying. The most important parameters comprise the magnitude of the applied voltage since it was the change in this value that led to the largest change in the sizes of the alginate microspheres.
Conclusions: Upon using the uniform electrostatic field it is possible to obtain the sodium alginate microspheres with a diameter from 900±5 μm to 2071±15 μm, on the condition of maintaining the spherical shape of the particles.
Downloads
References
Chemtob, C., Assimacopoulos, T., & Chaumeil, J. C. (1988). Preparation and characteristics of gelatin microspheres. Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 14(10), 1359-1374.
Jeyanthi, R., & Rao, K. P. (1987). Preparation of gelatin microspheres of bleomycin. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 35(1-2), 177-179.
Tran, T. H., Ramasamy, T., Poudel, B. K., Marasini, N., Moon, D. K., Choi, H. J., & … Kim, J. O. (2014). Preparation and characterization of spray-dried gelatin microspheres encapsulating ganciclovir. Macromolecular research, 22(2), 124-130.
Sun, R., Shi, J., Guo, Y., & Chen, L. (2009). Studies on the particle size control of gelatin microspheres. Frontiers of Chemistry in China, 4(2), 222-228.
Katti, D., & Krishnamurti, N. (1999). Preparation of albumin microspheres by an improved process. Journal of Microencapsul, 16(2), 232-242.
Kramer, P. A. (1974). Albumin microspheres as vehicles for achieving specificity in drug delivery. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 63, 1646-1647.
Stenekes, R. J., Franssen, O., van Bommel, E. M., Crommelin, D. J., & Hennink, W. E. (1998). The preparation of dextran microspheres in an all-aqueous system: effect of the formulation parameters on particle characteristics. Pharmaceutical Research, 15(4), 557-561.
Paques, J. P., van der Linden, E., van Rijn, C. J., & Sagis, L. M. (2014). Preparation methods of alginate nanoparticles. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 209, 163-171.
Prusse, U., Bilancetti, L., Bučko, M., Bugarski, B., Bukowski, J., Gemeiner, P., & … Vorlop, KD. (2008). Comparison of different technologies for alginate beads production. Chemical Papers, 62(4), 364-374.
Poncelet, D., Neufeld, R. J., Goosen, M. F. A., Burgarski, B., & Babak, V. (1999). Formation of microgel beads by electric dispersion of polymer solutions. AIChE Journal, 45(9), 2018-2023.
Bugarski, B., Li, Q., Goosen, M. F. A., Poncelet, D., Neufeld, R. J., & Vunjak, G. (1994). Electrostatic droplet generation: mechanism of polymer droplet formation. AIChEJornal, (40), 1026–1032.
Manojlovic, V., Rajic, N., Djonlagic, J., Obradovic, B., Nedovic, V., & Bugarski, B. (2008). Application of electrostatic extrusion - flavour encapsulation and controlled release. Sensors (Basel), 8(3), 1488-1496.
Keshavarz, T., Ramsden, G., Phillips, P., Mussenden, P., & Bucke, C. (1992). Application of electric field for production of immobilized biocatalysts. Biotechnology Techniques, 6, 445–450.
Manojlovic, V., Djonlagic, J., Obradovic, B., Nedovic, V., & Bugarski, B. (2006). Immobilization of cells by electrostatic droplet generation: a model system for potential application in medicine. International Journal of nanomedicine, 1(2), 163-172.
Singh, M. N., Hemant, K. S., Ram, M., & Shivakumar, H. G. (2010). Microencapsulation: a promising technique for controlled drug delivery. Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 5(2), 65-77.
Zhang, J., Li, X., Zhang, D., & Xiu, D. (2007). Theoretical and experimental investigations on the size of alginate microspheres prepared by dropping and spraying. Journal of.Microencapsul, 24(4), 303-322.
Lee, K. Y., & Mooney, D. J. (2012). Alginate: properties and biomedical applications. Progress in Polymer Science, 37(1), 106-126.
Smidsrod, O., & Skjak-Bræk, G. (1990). Alginate as immobilization matrix for cells. Trends in Biotechnology, 8(3), 71-78.
Remminghorst, U., & Rehm, B. H. A. (2006). Bacterial alginates: from biosynthesis toapplications. Biotechnology Letters, 28(21), 1701-1712.
Mørch, Ä. A., Donati, I., Strand, B. L., & Skja, G. (2006). Effect of Ca2+, Ba2+ and Sr2+ on alginate microbeads. Biomacromolecules, 7(5), 1471-1480.
Li, L., Fang, Y., Vreeker, R., Appelqvist, I., & Mendes, E. (2007). Reexamining the egg-box model in calcium - alginate gels with X-ray diffraction. Biomacromolecules, 8(2), 464-468.
Sachan, K. N., Pushkar, S., Jha, A., & Bhattcharya, A. (2009). Sodium alginate: the wonder polymer for controlled drug delivery. Journal of Pharmacy Research, 2(8), 1191–1199.
David, B., Barbe, L., Barthès-Biesel, D., & Legallais, C. (2006). Mechanical properties of alginate beads hosting hepatocytes in a fluidized bed bioreactor. The International journal of Artificial Organs, 29(8), 756-763.
Strand, B. L., Morsch, Y. A., & Skjak-Braek, G. (2000). Alginate as immobilization matrix for cells. Minerva Biotecnologica, 12(4), 223-233.
Arshady R. (1990). Biodegradable microcapsular drug delivery system. Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers, 5, 316-342.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
