Characterization and Release Kinetics of Metronidazole Loaded Silver Nanoparticles Prepared from Carica papaya Leaf Extract

Silver nanoparticles were synthesized using eco-friendly method with the extract of Carica papaya as a reducing and stabilizing agent. Metronidazole 200 mg was loaded as a model drug to the silver nanoparticles. The percentage yield of the metronidazole nanoparticle was high (96.00%). The entrapment efficiency 85.60% while the loading capacity was 8.90%. Differential scanning calorimetry showed there was no interaction between the reducing agent and model drug. Characterization of the metronidazole malpractices using UV- vis spectroscopy, zeta sizer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed. The UV-Vis spectroscopy showed surface plasmon resonance of 435nm for the silver nanoparticle. The mean particle size was 250 nm while the polydispersity index was 0.22. The metronidazole nanoparticle showed an extended and controlled release profile. The kinetics of release was zero-order (R2 = 0.9931) for the metronidazole nanoparticle while the metronidazole normal release tablet followed Higuchi kinetics (R2 = 0.9745).