Chitosan films: crosslinking with EDTA modifies physicochemical and mechanical properties.

The present study was aimed to develop chitosan-EDTA films and evaluate their physico-chemical and mechanical properties. The physical properties suggested lowest swelling, volume and volume index of films prepared by employing equal weight of chitosan (CH) and EDTA (1.5% w/v). The CH:EDTA film (1:l, on weight basis) showed minimum contact angle, work of adhesion and high negative spreading coefficient indicating lipophilic behavior of film. Further, the FTIR and DSC analysis suggested maximum crosslinking density in film prepared with equal proportion of CH and EDTA. The mechanical properties explored using texture analyzer revealed increasing the proportions of EDTA rendered the films more flexible and decreased their hardness. Furthermore, in vitro permeation of 5-FU and mesalamine with different solubilities showed minimum permeation across CH–EDTA (1:1) film, indicating high crosslinking density that decreased void space inside the film. Hence, the CH–EDTA conjugate could be considered to be possess great potential for various pharmaceutical applications such as film based delivery systems, controlled and sustained delivery systems etc.