Fabrication and Characterization of Diclofenac Sodium Loaded Hydrogels of Sodium Alginate as Sustained Release Carrier

The aim of the current study was to fabricate naturally derived polymer based hydrogels for controlled release of diclofenac sodium (DS) for a long duration of time. In this research work, sodium alginate-co-poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulphonic acid) (SA-co-poly(AMPS)) hydrogels were prepared by the free radical polymerization technique, where sodium alginate (SA) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulphonic acid (AMPS) were used as the polymer and monomer while ammonium peroxodisulfate (APS) and N,N'-Methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) were used as the initiator and cross-linker, respectively. A swelling study was performed to determine the swelling index of developed hydrogels in both acidic (pH 1.2) and basic (pH 7.4) media and pH-independent swelling was observed due to the presence of AMPS. An in vitro release study was conducted to evaluate the percentage of drug released, and a high release of the drug was found at the higher pH of 7.4. Sol-gel analysis was performed to analyze the crosslinked and uncrosslinked part of the hydrogels, and results showed a rise in gel fraction as the composition of SA, AMPS and MBA increased while the sol fraction decreased and vice versa. This work demonstrated a potential for sustained delivery of diclofenac sodium by employing various concentration of SA, AMPS and MBA.