Cross-sectional structure evolution of phase-separated spin-coated ethylcellulose/hydroxypropylcellulose films during solvent quenchingShow others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: RSC Advances, E-ISSN 2046-2069, Vol. 12, no 40, p. 26078-26089Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Porous phase-separated ethylcellulose/hydroxypropylcellulose (EC/HPC) films are used to control drug transport out of pharmaceutical pellets. The films are applied on the pellets using fluidized bed spraying. The drug transport rate is determined by the structure of the porous films that are formed as the water-soluble HPC leaches out. However, a detailed understanding of the evolution of the phase-separated structure during production is lacking. Here, we have investigated EC/HPC films produced by spin-coating, which mimics the industrial manufacturing process. This work aimed to understand the structure formation and film shrinkage during solvent evaporation. The cross-sectional structure evolution was characterized using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), profilometry and image analysis. The effect of the EC/HPC ratio on the cross-sectional structure evolution was investigated. During shrinkage of the film, the phase-separated structure undergoes a transition from 3D to nearly 2D structure evolution along the surface. This transition appears when the typical length scale of the phase-separated structure is on the order of the thickness of the film. This was particularly pronounced for the bicontinuous systems. The shrinkage rate was found to be independent of the EC/HPC ratio, while the initial and final film thickness increased with increasing HPC fraction. A new method to estimate part of the binodal curve in the ternary phase diagram for EC/HPC in ethanol has been developed. The findings of this work provide a good understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the morphology development and allow tailoring of thin EC/HPC films structure for controlled drug release.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Royal Society of Chemistry , 2022. Vol. 12, no 40, p. 26078-26089
Keywords [en]
Controlled drug delivery, Morphology, Pelletizing, Separation, Shrinkage, Cross-sectional structures, Drug transport, Drug transport rates, Ethylcellulose, Hydroxypro-pylcellulose, Industrial manufacturing process, Phase-separated structures, Porous film, Structure evolution, Watersoluble, Fluidized beds
National Category
Chemical Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-61216DOI: 10.1039/d2ra04178bScopus ID: 2-s2.0-85139943638OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-61216DiVA, id: diva2:1715552
Note
Funding details: 2019-01295; Funding details: Stiftelsen för Strategisk Forskning, SSF, FID16-0013; Funding details: Vetenskapsrådet, VR, 2018-03986; Funding text 1: The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF grant FID16-0013), the Swedish Research Council (VR grant 2018-03986), and the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (grant 2019-01295) are gratefully acknowledged for the funding. AstraZeneca is acknowledged for the financial support and materials.
2022-12-022022-12-022025-09-23Bibliographically approved