Preparation and characterisation of poly(vinyl alcohol)/cyclodextrin microspheres as matrix for inclusion and separation of drugs.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) microspheres containing cyclodextrin (CD) were obtained by chemical cross-linking with glutaraldehyde of an acidified mixture solution of PVA and alpha-, beta- or gamma-CD. The amount of linked CD in microspheres, estimated by tetrazolium blue method, decreases in the order beta- > gamma- > alpha-CD. The dimensions of PVA/gamma-CD microspheres are much higher than those of PVA/alpha- and beta-CD. The cross-linking density of microspheres was estimated by the amount of iodine retained by the polymer matrix. The pore size as well as the porous volume of PVA/CD microspheres decrease significantly on increasing the amount of glutaraldehyde, but are enough large to permit the access of drugs to the CD cavity. In order to test the PVA/CD microsphere inclusion ability, the microspheres were packed in a glass column and the liquid chromatographic behaviour by isocratic elution of different drugs or typical organic compounds, taken as model drugs, was investigated.