Investigation of pharmaceutical oil/water microemulsions by small-angle scattering.
OBJECTIVE
Stable oil/water (o/w) microemulsions are very effective vehicle systems for dermal administration of drugs having no or low skin penetration. These systems, consisting of oils, a blend of a high and a low HLB surfactant, and a hydrophilic phase (propylene glycol/water), were developed using pharmaceutically acceptable components.


METHODS
In this paper, the droplet size of these microemulsions was characterized by means of dynamic light scattering (DLS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). Furthermore, different size parameters obtained by DLS and SANS experiments were compared and discussed.


RESULTS
Extremely small droplet radii of approximately 10 nm could be observed. A good agreement between the data of DLS and SANS experiments was found. The kind of oil only marginally influences the droplet size.


CONCLUSIONS
Particle size determination via scattering techniques is a useful tool to characterize droplets in microemulsions for dermal drug delivery.
Department of Physics, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle/Saale, Germany.
Anuj
A
Shukla
Martin
M
Janich
Konstanze
K
Jahn
Annett
A
Krause
Mikael A
MA
Kiselev
Reinhard H H
RH
Neubert
D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry*; D008027:Light; D009502:Neutrons; D009821:Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
D004655:Emulsions; D009821:Oils; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014867:Water