Understanding Release Kinetics of Calcium Alginate Microcapsules Using Drop on Demand Inkjet Printing

This paper investigates the use of calcium alginate microcapsules to transport biomaterials for drug delivery. Rhodamine 6G dye was encapsulated in microcapsules for different formulations of the hydrogels using drop-on-demand printing. An experimental design was constructed to compare the effect of different concentrations of calcium chloride (M) and sodium alginate (% w/v) solutions in addition to the microcapsule diameter on the release kinetics profiles of the microcapsules. The results of these findings provide a basis to identify favorable sizes of microcapsules and concentrations of sodium alginate and calcium chloride solutions for controlled release behavior of microcapsules.