Supercritical carbon dioxide as solvent for manufacturing of ibuprofen loaded gelatine sponges with enhanced performance

Supercritical carbon dioxide was used as the solvent for manufacturing of ibuprofen loaded gelatine sponges with high loading capacity and fast release performance toward healthcare materials in the treatment of postoperative dental pain. The solubility of ibuprofen in supercritical CO 2 was first determined at 313 K under different pressure conditions. The micronisation of ibuprofen drugs were successfully adsorbed onto the surface of network pore system of gelatine sponges via supercritical CO₂ processing. The loading capacity of ibuprofen in gelatine sponges obtained by using supercritical CO₂ as the solvent can be up to 19.86 wt%, which was double that of the sample prepared by direct soaking in ethanol. The dissolution of ibuprofen was determined and higher instantaneous dissolution rate was observed for the ibuprofen loaded gelatine sponges synthesized by supercritical CO₂ processing.