Water/Oil Pickering Emulsion Stabilized by Magnesium Oxide Particles: A Potential System with Two Active Substances (Paracetamol and Griseofulvin)

Pickering emulsions are systems without surfactants, stabilized by solid particles. These emulsions are experiencing a renewed interest, on the one hand, because it is preferable to limit the use of synthetic surfactants for toxicological and environmental reasons and, on the other hand, the need to make new formulations in order to control the drug release patterns by encapsulation or controlled release. Thus, we were interested in the formulation and evaluation of W/O Pickering emulsions stabilized by particles of magnesium oxide with paracetamol in the internal phase and griseofulvin in the external phase. The Bancroft rule served as a model for the formulation. The emulsification was carried out by progressively adding an aqueous phase dispersed in an oil-dispersing phase using a turbo rotor stator mixer. The stability of these emulsions was studied using several parameters (droplet size, pH, viscosity, conductivity ...) and the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the active ingredients by UV-visible spectrophotometry. The results obtained showed that the dye test and the conductivity measurement confirmed the W/O nature of these emulsions. Some parameters such as droplet size, pH and viscosity were strongly influenced by the amounts of magnesium oxide particles and the two active ingredients used. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the active ingredients confirmed the presence of griseofulvin in the oil phase and paracetamol in the aqueous phase. Thus, we have succeeded in developing a stable W/O Pickering emulsion with magnesium oxide particles. In addition, we were able to incorporate paracetamol into the dispersed phase and griseofulvin into the dispersing phase of the emulsion.