Fabrication of cucurbit[6]uril mediated alginate physical hydrogel beads and their application as a drug carriers

Abstract

A novel cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) mediated alginate physical hydrogel bead was prepared for the first time, which is based on the electrostatic attraction and ion-dipole interaction between sodium alginate and CB[6]. These alginate/CB[6] gel beads are useful in controlled drug delivery and other biomedical applications. The potential of alginate/CB[6] gel beads as carrier for 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) was studied in this paper. The properties of alginate/CB[6] gel beads were studied by FT-IR, XRD and TGA. The process of the formation of alginate/CB[6] gel beads was recorded by Digital cameras. The external morphology of the dried beads were observed using SEM. Alginate/CB[6] gel beads first was formed as a thin film on the surface of the alginate solution droplet, holding its spherical shape. The color of the alginate/CB[6] gel beads changed from almost colorless to white with the increase of gel time, and also the beads became small and compact. The dried alginate/CB[6] gel beads were about 900-1000 urn, irregular spherical and the surface of dried beads showed a corrugated surface having a uniform distribution of regular nodules and cavities.