Controlled Release of Chlorhexidine Diacetate from a Porous Methacrylate System: Supercritical Fluid Assisted Foaming and Impregnation

The release of chlorhexidine diacetate (CX) from a self‐curing polymeric system based on poly(ethylmethacrylate) and tetrahydrofurfurylmethacrylate (PEM/THFM) was developed in this study. Supercritical fluid assisted impregnation and foaming was employed for preparing porous CX‐PEM/THFM drug release system. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) show that the crystallinity of CX significantly decreased after supercritical processing, whilst Raman spectroscopy suggested a hydrogen bonding interaction between the CX and PEM in the product. A UV-Vis dissolution study revealed that the drug release rate is almost as seven times faster in the SCF processed drug delivery system than conventional cured samples. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 96:2048-2056, 2007