Effect of solvents on the characteristics of rosin walled microcapsules prepared by a solvent evaporation technique.

Rosin microcapsules were prepared by a solvent evaporation technique using solvents with different rates of evaporation. Sulphadiazine was used as a model drug. The microcapsules were studied for their size, drug content, wall thickness, surface characteristics and in vitro release. The mean diameter increased and the drug content decreased as the rate of evaporation of the solvent increased. Fast evaporating solvents produced thick walled microcapsules with innumerable surface pores/cracks compared with slow evaporating solvents.