The potential of microcrystalline cellulose-g-poly(itaconic acid) as α-tocopherol carrier material†

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a drug is defined as a substance used for the mitigation, treatment, and therapy of a disease. In increasing the effectiveness of treatment, drugs need a carrier to produce a controlled delivery pattern. This study used microcrystalline cellulose-graft-poly(itaconic acid) copolymer as a drug carrier, while α-tocopherol was used as a drug model. The copolymer main chain is hydrophilic, while the side chains are hydrophobic. The amphiphilic structure can result in the formation of micelles. The success of copolymer synthesis was proven by the presence of a new peak in the infrared absorption band at 1645 cm⁻¹. The peak indicated the presence of a CO group of itaconic acid grafted onto the main chain of microcrystalline cellulose. The molecular process of carrying α-tocopherol can be observed based on the results of molecular dynamics simulations. The carriage of α-tocopherol is characterized by a copolymer radial distribution function (RDF) peak at a range of 0.5–0.9 nm and a decrease in the solvent-accessible surface area (SASA). The drug release data were modeled using the exponential model (first-order kinetic), the Weibull model (fractal-like first-order kinetic), and the diffusion-based Higuchi model.