Effects of Microemulsion Preparation Conditions on Drug Encapsulation Efficiency of PLGA Nanoparticles

Emulsion solvent evaporation technique is widely used to prepare nanoparticles of many organic polymer drug carriers. The mechanism of nanoparticle generation by this technique involves oil‐in‐water (O/W) microemulsion formation followed by solvent evaporation. Various microemulsion preparation conditions can affect the encapsulation efficiency of drug in the nanoparticulate carrier. In this study, emulsifying speed, emulsifying temperature, and organic‐to‐aqueous phase ratio were varied and the resulting encapsulation efficiency of a model drug in Poly(Lactide‐co‐Glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles was determined. The organic phase containing PLGA and a model drug dissolved in chloroform was first dispersed in an aqueous solution containing 0.5 %(w/v) Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), which was then homogenized at high speeds. The resulting O/W microemulsion was subsequently subjected to stirring at room temperature for four hours during which the solvent diffused and evaporated gradually. The fine white suspension was centrifuged and freeze‐dried. The model drug loading in the PLGA nanoparticles was determined using UV spectrophotometry. Results showed that the encapsulation efficiency of a model drug, salicylic acid, ranged from 8.5% to 17% depending on the microemulsion preparation conditions. Under the same temperature $(15 °C)$ and homogenization speed (19000 rpm) conditions studied, a relatively high organic‐to‐aqueous phase ratio (1:5) provided salicylic acid loaded PLGA nanoparticles with significantly higher drug encapsulation efficiency. In addition, under all microemulsion preparation conditions, PLGA nanoparticles obtained after solvent evaporation and freeze drying were spherical and aggregation between the nanoparticles was not observed under a high power microscope. This indicates that PLGA nanoparticles with desirable amount of drug and with anticipated size and shape can be realized by controlling emulsification process conditions.