Nano ZnO embedded poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate cross-linked carboxymethyl tamarind kernel gum (CMTKG)/poly (sodium acrylate) composite hydrogels for oral delivery of ciprofloxacin drug and their antibacterial properties

In this research work, a novel hydrogel network based on carboxymethyl tamarind kernel gum/poly (sodium acrylate) was synthesized by using poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) as a cross-linker. Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were prepared via the hydrothermal synthetic method and developed ZnO NPs embedded within CMTKG/Poly (sodium acrylate) hydrogel for the controlled release studies of ciprofloxacin drug. Various techniques such as FTIR, XRD, FESEM, and TEM were used to characterize the synthesized ZnO NPs, pure hydrogel, and hydrogel nanocomposites. Various parameters such as drug loading (DL %), drug entrapment (DE %), gel content, and porosity were estimated for all the synthesized hydrogel nanocomposites. The results of swelling and rheological studies of hydrogel nanocomposites concluded that the embedded ZnO NPs increased hydrogel's swelling and thermal stability. The water absorption data were analyzed using the Power and Schott model. The result concluded that the Schott function model fitted the dynamic swelling data. The antibacterial action of CMTKG-based hydrogel nanocomposites was studied using E. coli (gram-negative) bacteria with the help of the disc diffusion method. The result showed that the incorporation of ZnO NPs enhanced the antimicrobial action of ciprofloxacin-loaded CMTKG-based hydrogels. The kinetic modelling of drug release was done using Higuchi and Korsmeyer - Peppas model. The higher value of regression coefficient (R2) close to unity indicated that the mechanistic pathway of drug release from the hydrogels was more fitted in the Korsmeyer-Peppas model followed by Fickian diffusion.