Abstract

OPTIMIZATION OF POROUS CHITOSAN MICROPARTICLES USING NACL AS POROGEN THROUGH 3² FACTORIAL DESIGN

Reena Ughreja, Harshviba Jadeja, Vaibhav Bhatt, Sunny Shah*

Abstract

The present study focuses on the formulation and optimization of porous chitosan microparticles using sodium chloride (NaCl) as a porogen to develop a biocompatible and porous matrix suitable for controlled drug delivery applications. Porous microparticles were prepared by the emulsion cross-linking technique employing glutaraldehyde as a cross-linker. A 3² full factorial design was applied to systematically investigate the influence of two independent variables—amount of chitosan (X₁) and amount of NaCl (X₂)—on three dependent responses: percentage yield (Y₁), percentage porosity (Y₂), and particle size (Y₃). The prepared microparticles were evaluated for their physical characteristics, surface morphology, and statistical model fitting. The results revealed that an increase in chitosan concentration significantly enhanced particle size and yield, whereas porosity increased with higher NaCl levels due to enhanced leaching and pore formation. Regression analysis and ANOVA confirmed the significance of both factors (p < 0.05), and the derived polynomial equations accurately described the relationships among variables. The optimized batch (150 mg chitosan and 100 mg NaCl) exhibited a yield of 75.3 ± 0.4%, porosity of 62.8 ± 0.5%, and mean particle size of 93.2 μm, closely correlating with the predicted values. SEM analysis confirmed the formation of uniformly distributed pores and spherical morphology. The study concludes that the factorial design approach effectively optimized formulation parameters, and the developed porous chitosan microparticles demonstrate excellent potential as a carrier system for controlled and sustained drug delivery.

Keywords: Chitosan microparticles, Porogen, Sodium chloride, Factorial design, Controlled release.