Study of controlled release of PMMA-g-PEG copolymer and derivatives incorporated with the indomethacin drug.

Abstract

Synthetic polymers are made up of repeated monomeric units, and this gives them a very versatile appearance, making them useful in many areas of science. One is the pharmaceutical, which correlates the properties of the polymer with the active principle, so they can be used as an excipient or in the controlled release system. The PMMA‐g‐PEG4000 has characteristics derived from its precursors, that are pharmacologically active. When we incorporate drugs into this structure, the polymer can act on the controlled release, lessening the toxic character of the drug and producing fewer side effects. In this work, incorporations of the drug indomethacin were made in the PMMA‐g‐PEG copolymer and derivatives (PMMA‐g‐PEG4000 ETIL and PMMA‐g‐PEG4000 ACET). The samples were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. For each sample, the controlled release was performed in a total time of 4 h and the efficiency of the modified structures was verified.