Preparation and characterization of iron-cobalt composite microcapsules

Iron and cobalt as trace elements can promote the growth and development of the body. In our experiments, they were added as a drug for treatment of animal anemia. Iron-cobalt composite microcapsules were prepared by emulsion solvent diffusion method (ESDM) can meet the requirements of the body to trace elements, thus promoting the body's normal hematopoietic function. The optimum condition was investigated by response surface methodology (RSM) in order to improve the bioavailability of oral iron-cobalt preparations. By using the analysis of flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry and scanning electronic microscope (SEM), the characteristics of the microcapsules were investigated respectively. The results showed that the optimum preparation conditions for iron-cobalt composite microcapsules were: 0.48 g of ferric citrate, 0.25 g cobalt chloride, 0.2 ml of twain-80 and 1.8 ml of span-80. The microcapsules were successfully prepared with 90.61% of encapsulation efficiency (EE) and 45.32% of drug loading (DL). The particles of the microcapsule conformed to a normal distribution with the average diameter of 180 ± 9.54 μm. The average accumulated dissolution is lower than 10.00% in dissolution medium of pH 1.0 within 120 min but that is more than 75.00% in dissolution medium of pH 6.8 within 120 min.