Sustained drug release and electrochemical performance of ethyl cellulose-magnesium hydrogen phosphate composite

- Porous nature of ethyl cellulose and the crystal structure of MgHPO4 after the composite formation were investigated.
- Conductivity studies proved that the composite is electrically conductive and the conductivity is strongly influenced by the electrolyte type as see the conductivity order to be K+ > Na+.
- Composite can take up to 80% of Proguanil used for loading and can release up to 87% from it under neutral conditions in just over a 90 min period.
- Due to the absence of toxicity on in vitro cell culture systems, the composite can be applied for sustainable drug delivery and biosensor related applications.

In this, a sol-gel method was applied to prepare ethyl cellulose-magnesium hydrogen phosphate (EC-MgHPO4) composite that can have potential applications in the sensory, pharmaceutical, and biomedical sectors. The formed composite was thoroughly characterized by making use of the instrumental analysis such as UV-Vis, FT-IR, HRTEM, EDAX, SEM and XRD. For the composite, the other parameters determined includes the water uptake, porosity, thickness, bulk and tapped densities, angle of repose, Carr's index and Hausner ratio. From the results, the material found to exhibit good flowing properties with a Carr's index of 11.11%, Hausner ratio of 1.125, and angle of response of 33°. The EDAX spectrum and HRTEM analysis confirmed for the composite formation and the particles size is investigated to be around 52 nm. The surface porosity due to the EC matrices was confirmed by the SEM analysis, which further used for the loading of drug, Proguanil. In addition, the material's conductivity was studied by taking uni-univalent electrolyte solution (KCl and NaCl) indicated that the conductivity follows the order of KCl > NaCl, while the activation energy obtained from Arrhenius method resembled that the conductivity is strongly influenced by the electrolyte type used. We found from the analysis that, with a decrease in the size of hydrated radii of ions, the conductivity of EC-MgHPO4 material also observed to be decreased in the order K+ > Na+ and the material proved to be mechanically stable and can be operated over a range of pHs, temperatures, and electrolyte solutions. Further, the drug loading and efficiency studies indicated that the material can trap up to 80% of Proguanil (antimalarial drug) applied for its loading. The Proguanil drug release profiles confirmed for the controlled and sustained release from the EC-MgHPO4 matrix, as the material can release up to 87% of its total loaded drug over a 90 min period. Finally, the cell viability and proliferation studies tested against two different cell cultures of BRL-3A rat liver and H9c2 cardiomyoblasts indicated the non-toxic nature and safer applicability of the EC-MgHPO4 (25-500 μg/mL, 24 h). Overall, the results of the study confirm for the safer applicability of the composite towards biosensor, drug delivery, scaffolding, and bioanalytical (quality control) applications.

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