Preparation and characterization of chitosan hydrogel membrane for the permeation of 5-Fluorouracil

Four kinds of chitosan membranes, (Ch, C-G, C-N, and C-GN), were prepared in this study. Ch system of chitosan membranes were prepared by solution casting method without any treatment. C-G system of chitosan membranes were prepared by solution casting method with adding glutaraldehyde as crosslinking agent. C-N system of chitosan membranes were prepared by solution casting method with the treatment of NaOH solution. C-GN system of chitosan membranes were crosslinked with glutaraldehyde and treated with 1 M NaOH solution. Infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were conducted to characterize the structure and thermal properties of chitosan membrane. To evaluate the usage of chitosan for the carrier of drug, water content and degradation of the chitosan membrane were determined. It was found that the values of equilibrated water content in chitosan membranes increased with the chitosan content in the stock chitosan solution. The assessment of 5-FU permeability through the chitosan membranes was determined. The linear relationship between the permeability of 5-FU through the membrane and the wt.% of chitosan content in stock chitosan solution was found. Both values of intercept and slope were determined. The value of intercept means that the permeability of 5-FU through the chitosan membrane, which is assumed to be prepared from stock chitosan solution containing infinite dilute chitosan content. The value of slope indicates that the effect of the treatment method on the permeability of 5-FU through the chitosan membrane. From the evaluation of normalized flux, diffusivity and saturation concentration of 5-FU in various chitosan membrane, it was found that more number of 5-FU molecules were trapped in the chitosan membrane of C-GN system than that in C-N system and resulted in the decrease of diffusivity of 5-FU molecules through the chitosan membrane.