Synthesis and applications of polyacrylamide grafted agar as a matrix for controlled drug release of 5-ASA

• Ag-g-PAM was synthesized by ‘microwave assisted method’.
• Synthesized grades were studied as matrix for controlled drug delivery at various pH.
• Higher the percentage grafting lower is the rate of drug release.
• Release of the drug from this grafted agar matrix is low in acidic pH and is much higher in neutral pH.
• From the kinetics study, the drug release from Ag-g-PAM matrix follows Fickian release.

Agar has been modified by microwave assisted grafting with acrylamide monomer, resulting in poly acrylamide grafted agar (Ag-g-PAM). The synthesized grades of Ag-g-PAM were characterized by standard physico-chemical characterization techniques (FTIR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)) to ascertain the intended grafting. The synthesized graft copolymer (Ag-g-PAM) has been investigated (in vitro) for controlled and colon targeted release of 5-amino salicylic acid (5-ASA).