Effect of Weight Ratio and Casting Method on the Release of Drugs from PEO-B-PCL Copolymer Films

Current methods for drug release use PCL encapsulation. PCL is used because it is biocompatible and has low toxicity within the body; however, the polymer is very hydrophobic, taking up to 2 years to degrade. The aim of this study was to create polymer films with a PEO-b-PCL copolymer and determine how the hydrophilic PEO affects the amount of drug released as well as the time it takes for the film to fully erode. This was tested using three different dyes as drug surrogates: methyl red (MR), methyl orange (MO), and methylene blue (MB). The effect of the film casting method was investigated by making the films using two different methods: a compounding method and a solvent casting method. The films were placed in water and samples were taken at regular time intervals. The dye release was determined by UV-vis spectrophotometry. Initial studies showed that the more PCL present in the film, the slower the release of the dye. In general, initial studies show that samples using MB degraded at a faster rate while samples using MR degraded at a slower rate. Also, it was found that the solvent method results in a faster release.