In this research, a starch-g-acrylamide hydrogel was synthesized using free radical polymerization method with potassium per sulphate and NN-Methylene bisacrylamide as an initiator and crosslinker respectively. The swelling capacity and pH sensitivity of the synthesized hydrogel was investigated in solution of various pH (1-12). The result shows that the synthesized hydrogel swells more at higher pHs. The highest % swelling was obtained at pH 11 (905 %). The drug loading and release experiment was also carried out using promethazine (PMZ) as the model drug at 25oC and 37 oC respectively. The drug loading result indicates that 99% of the drug was entrapped by the hydrogel as confirmed by UV-visible spectrophotometry. The release study was carried out in an enzymes-free simulated gastric intestinal fluid (SGF) and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF), the result shows that the hydrogel release more promethazine in SIF than in SGF. During the first ten hours, the release was slow which was 24% and 9% in SIF and SGF respectively. At the end of 48 hours the release was 96% and 89% in SIF and SGF respectively. The results obtained in this work suggest that starch-graft-acrylamide hydrogel is a potential candidate for application in oral drug delivery.
Key words: KEY WORDS: STARCH, ACRYLAMIDE, HYDROGEL
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