Study of the Effect of Formulation Parameters/Variables to Control the Nanoencapsulation of Hydrophilic Drug via Double Emulsion Technique

Preparation of biodegradable nanoparticles containing active molecule is now taking much attention of researchers. The aim of the present work is to achieve the nanosize particles for the first time by double emulsion (W₁/O/W₂) evaporation method to encapsulate hydrophilic substance using high performance stirring apparatus. A fluorescent stable hydrophilic agent (Stilbene derivative) was used as a model drug to be encapsulated. For this purpose, PCL (polycaprolactone) was chosen as polymer in this study. Several kinds of stabilizers [triton-405, tween 80, poloxamer, PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone), PEG (poly ethylene glycol) & PVA (poly vinyl alcohol)] were investigated and the results indicate that the PVA (0.5% concentration) leads to the most stable double emulsion with the particle size in nano range. Different parameters affecting the size of particles have been studied such as stirring time (for 1st and 2nd emulsion), stirring speed (for 1st and 2nd emulsion), polymer and stabilizer concentrations etc. After duration of one month, the encapsulation efficiency of obtained particles was estimated using U.V. analysis. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) showed that the prepared particles were spherical in shape. The size and size distribution were found to be submicron and ranging from 150 to 400 nm.