Preparation and characterization of pH-responsive guar gum microspheres

Guar gum, being the natural polymer is renewable, nontoxic, biocompatible and biodegradable. Therefore, it is the perfect material to formulate particulates or microspheres for potential applications in pharmaceutical. The formulation of material in nano/microsphere scale offers new rich in application potential. In view of that, novel biodegradable and pH-sensitive hydrogels composed of pH-sensitive methacrylic acid (MAc) and a biodegradable guar gum were synthesized by grafting reactions. Water-in-oil (w/o) emulsion method was used to direct the pH-sensitive material in microspheres shape using bi-functional glutaraldehyde (GA) as crosslinker. The synthesized microspheres were characterized by FTIR and SEM (different magnification). The swelling ratios of hydrogels in buffer solutions showed a pH-dependent profile at physiological pH. In vitro release data was analyzed using Fick's law, which indicated swelling controlled super case II transport of BSA through the synthesized microspheres. Therefore, in conclusion, as ascertained from the results the introduction of COOH moieties along the guar gum chain drastically increases the end-use performance due to pH-sensitivity. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.