Preparation and Characterisation of Gellan Gum and Eudragit E100 Polyelectrolyte Complexes

Over the past few years, polyelectrolytes have been employed in several fields across the world to be very functional. They have been used in a wide array of industries such as pharmaceuticals, tissue- engineering and also cosmetics due to their excellent properties such as their ionic strength, adaptable pH, rate of solubility dissolution and also the viscosity. These polymers are so versatile that they can be tailored to how they need to be used, to do this minimal changes are made to the functional groups which then modify the whole polyelectrolyte and can be designed for a set target. Effective polyelectrolytes can be developed by selecting appropriate polymers which are positively and negatively charged. The aim of this study was to select and prepare polyelectrolyte complexes from oppositely charged polymers gellan gum and Eudragit E100. Furthermore, the ideal complex weight ratio was established after characterising certain factors such as the viscosity, zeta potential and the turbidity. Additionally, the complexes were further characterised using FTIR to confirm complexation, XRD to determine the crystallinity or amorphous properties of the polyelectrolytes, thermal analysis was also carried out using DSC and TGA techniques and surface morphology by SEM. In addition to this, model drugs ibuprofen and propranolol were formulated as part of tablets and also as beads and were then further characterised by dissolution studies. The results collected from the overall data confirmed the anticipated complexes. Overall, the study carried out proved that the complexation reaction between the two polyelectrolytes was effective and provided promising results.