Microemulsions: Unique Properties, Pharmacological Applications, and Targeted Drug Delivery

Microemulsions, comprising oil, water and a surfactant, in association with some co-surfactant, are thermodynamically stable systems. They have found applications in a large number of chemical and pharmacological processes due to their unique properties such as large interfacial area, low interfacial tension, and most importantly, the ability to solubilize and deliver hydrophobic drugs. In addition to the oral and intravenous route, they are suitable for drug delivery through the ophthalmic, vaginal, pulmonary, dental, and topical routes. This review highlights the properties and several recent developments in the use of microemulsions for medical treatment purposes including targeted drug delivery.

Emulgel Approach to Formulation Development: A Review

Topical drug delivery is the delivery of drugs anywhere in the body through skin, vaginal, ophthalmic and rectal routes. Drugs may be given for localized or systemic effects. Topical formulations with varying physicochemical properties, such as solid, semisolid, or liquid, can be developed. The topical system is created by preparing a drug emulsion and incorporating it into an emulgel. Emulgel is a thermodynamically stable formulation with low interfacial tension that is made by combining a surfactant and a co-surfactant and has several properties such as increased permeability and good thermodynamic stability. Emulgel has a dual control and a sustained release pattern. Emulgel improves bioavailability as well as patient compliance. The pH, viscosity, particle size, zeta potential, drug content, stability study, skin irritation test, and other properties of the prepared formulation are evaluated.

The effects of the inclusion of 1,2,4-triazole derivatives into the main chains of the polyurethane urea exposed to UV radiation

Linear polyurethane urea containing 1,2,4-triazole segments was obtained by polyaddition of the 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole (DATA) to urethane prepolymer. Also, three crosslinked polymers with different crosslinkers (2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine (TAP), glycerin (Gly), castor oil (CO)) were synthesized. Thermogravimetric analysis, of the obtained polymers, indicated good thermal stability up to 310°C. The polyurethane urea chemical structure was confirmed by FTIR analysis. The glass transition temperatures (Tg) of these polymers, measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), were found in the range of −52°C to −56°C. These values were not significantly influenced by the structure of the hard domain and the intermolecular interactions. The tensile testing showed that the inclusion of 1,2,4-triazole in polyurethane structure substantially improves the tensile strength up to 58 MPa. The obtained polyurethane urea presents surface slight hydrophobic and low interfacial tension. The positive effect of the 1,2,4-triazole segment from the polymer main chain in the UV aging process of these polymer materials has been studied. After exposure to UV radiation, few changes were observed in the molecular structure, in the surface morphology and the mechanical properties.

Effects of Surfactant Partitioning Coefficient and Interfacial Tension on the Oil Displacement in Low-Tension Polymer Flooding

Complex surfactant formulations have been applied to generate an ultra-low interfacial tension (IFT) (e.g., 10-3 dyne/cm) between the displacing water phase and the displaced oil phase in chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR), where the residual oil after waterflooding can be largely recovered as an oil bank. This paper is concerned with a simpler, lower-cost CEOR, in which a sole additive of surface active solvent (SAS) makes low-tension displacement fronts in polymer flooding (e.g., 10-2 dyne/cm) without involving ultra-low IFT microemulsion phase behavior. The main objective of this research is to technically verify such low-tension polymer (LTP) flooding for a secondary-mode oil displacement through a sandpack of 9.5 Darcy. Previous research found that 2-ethylhexanol-7PO-15EO (2-EH-7PO-15EO, or "7-15") as SAS was able to reduce the IFT between polymer solution and the reservoir oil from 15.8 dyne/cm to 0.025 dyne/cm. In this research, the effect of SAS partition coefficient on LTP flooding was studied as an additional factor for SAS optimization. In particular, the comparison between two SAS species, 2-EH-4PO-15EO (4-15) and 2-EH-7PO-25EO (7-25), was important, because they had similar IFT values, but markedly different partition coefficients. The IFT was 0.18 dyne/cm with 4-15 and 0.20 dynes/cm with 7-25; and the partition coefficients were 1.61 with 4-15 and 0.68 with 7-25 at the experimental temperature, 61°C. These two SAS species were compared in secondary-mode LTP flooding with a slug of 0.5 wt% SAS for 0.5 pore-volumes injected (PVI). The oil recovery factor at 1.0 PVI was 65% with 4-15 and 67% with 7-25. At 5.0 PVI, it was 74% with 4-15 and 84% with 7-25. Although these two SAS species gave comparable IFT values, their oil-displacement efficiencies were quite different because 7-25 propagated more efficiently in the sandpack with the smaller partition coefficient. The smaller partition coefficient helped the SAS flow more efficiently in the aqueous phase with less retention in the remaining oil. Optimization of SAS likely requires taking a balance between lowering the partition coefficient and lowering the IFT. The SAS recovery at the effluent was 61% for the 4-15 SAS and 78% for the 7-25 SAS. The propagation of the 4-15 SAS was retarded approximately by 1.0 PVI in comparison to that of the 7-25 SAS. The adsorption of the 4-15 and 7-25 SAS were 0.019 mg/g sandpack and 0.020 mg/g sandpack. With a similar IFT reduction, the SAS with a smaller partition coefficient (i.e., 7-25) resulted in less retention, less retardation, and more oil production for a given amount of injection.

The Oscillatory Spinning Drop Technique. An Innovative Method to Measure Dilational Interfacial Rheological Properties of Crude Oil-Brine Systems in the Presence of Asphaltenes

The oscillatory spinning drop method has been proven recently to be an accurate technique to measure dilational interfacial rheological properties. It is the only available equipment for measuring dilational moduli in low interfacial tension systems, as it is the case in applications dealing with surfactant-oil-water three-phase behavior like enhanced oil recovery, crude oil dehydration, or extreme microemulsion solubilization. Different systems can be studied, bubble-in-liquid, oil-in-water, microemulsion-in-water, oil-in-microemulsion, and systems with the presence of complex natural surfactants like asphaltene aggregates or particles. The technique allows studying the characteristics and properties of water/oil interfaces, particularly when the oil contains asphaltenes and when surfactants are present. In this work, we present a review of the measurements of crude oil-brine interfaces with the oscillating spinning drop technique. The review is divided into four sections. First, an introduction on the oscillating spinning drop technique, fundamental and applied concepts are presented. The three sections that follow are divided according to the complexity of the systems measured with the oscillating spinning drop, starting with simple surfactant-oil-water systems. Then the complexity increases, presenting interfacial rheology properties of crude oil-brine systems, and finally, more complex surfactant-crude oil-brine systems are reviewed. We have found that using the oscillating spinning drop method to measure interfacial rheology properties can help make precise measurements in a reasonable amount of time. This is of significance when systems with long equilibration times, e.g., asphaltene or high molecular weight surfactant-containing systems are measured, or with systems formulated with a demulsifier which is generally associated with low interfacial tension.

Multifunctional Composition Based on Surfactants and a Complex of Buffer Systems to Enhance Oil Recovery of High-Viscosity Oil Deposits

To enhance oil recovery of high-viscosity oil deposits in the temperature range of 20-210 °C, a multifunctional composition with adjustable viscosity and high oil-displacing ability has been developed based on surfactants, aluminum and ammonium salts, an adduct of inorganic acid, carbamide and polyol. High buffer capacity of the composition in a wide pH range, 2.5-10 units pH, is provided by a complex of buffer systems: in the acidic range of pH, 2.5-4.0, the system “polyolboric acid and its salt”, in the alkaline range of pH – anammonia-borate buffer system. The composition has a low interfacial tension, a prolonged reaction with carbonate rocks, prevents the precipitation of insoluble reaction products, and increases the permeability of reservoirs. The composition is both oil-displacing and flow-diverting, it provides an enhance in the oil recovery factor, both due to the increase in the displacement factor and the the reservoir sweep by waterflooding or thermal steam stimulation