Spray drying has been used in the production of fine powders from emulsions for many years, but it is not a process in which most people associate the production of microspheres.? This journal article shows how the authors were able to produce highly spherical microspheres in the 2-10um range by controlling the levels of Chitosan and crosslinking agents used.
The key items I found of interest in this article were:
The quality of the microspheres that were produced, as seen the the attached SEM micrograph.
How the process variables did not affect the zeta potential of the microspheres produced (Table 4 below), and how the size can be varied by varying the concentrations of Chitosan or the Molecular weight (MW).
A complete copy of this journal article “Chitosan microspheres prepared by spray drying“? is available in: International journal of pharmaceutics, 1999,?vol.?187,?pp.?53-65
Journal Abstract:
Non-crosslinked and crosslinked chitosan microspheres were prepared by a spray drying method. The microspheres so prepared had a good sphericity and a smooth but distorted surface morphology. They were positively charged. The particle size ranged from 2 to 10 ?m. The size and seta potential of the particles were influenced by the crosslinking level. With decreasing amount of crosslinking agent (either glutaraldehyde or formaldehyde), both particle size and zeta potential were increased. Preparation conditions also had some influence on the particle size. DSC studies revealed that the H2 antagonist drug cimetidine, as well as famotidine was molecularly dispersed inside the microspheres, in the form of a solid solution. The release of model drugs (cimetidine, famotidine and nizatidine) from these microspheres was fast, and accompanied by a burst effect.
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