Surface Engineered Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) Microspheres by Chemical Treatment for Drug Delivery System

Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is well known for their biodegradability and bioresorbable properties and these properties made them suitable in drug delivery system as drug carriers. PLA is relatively hydrophobic and lack of cell-recognition group to interact with biologically active molecules which reduce the surface compatibility of microspheres. In this project, alkaline hydrolysis was used to induce hydrophilic functional group on the microspheres surface. Alkaline solution at 0.01M and 0.1M was used to modify microspheres surfaces. The engineered surfaces were evaluated using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Water Contact Angle. 0.1M alkaline solution hydrolyzed microspheres at higher extends as compared to 0.01M, where partial microspheres disintegrated and porous structure was revealed. The water contact angle of PLA films shows decreased from 65 ̊ to range 42 47 ̊ after alkaline hydrolysis.