Film swelling and water uptake of the films
The film swelling properties were evaluated by determining
the swelling index. Each film samples were cut into
dimensions of 10 9 10 mm and the studies were conducted
in simulated phosphate buffer saline (pH 7.4) Each
film sample was weighed and placed on a pre-weighed
stainless steel wire mesh (600 micron sieve size). It was
then submerged into phosphate buffer saline, pH 7.4 placed
in a suitable container. After immersion the films were
wiped off from the excess surface water using the filter
paper and weighed. The increase in weight of the film was
determined at preset time intervals (4 h is kept constant in
this experiment) and determined after a constant weight
was observed. Each measurement was repeated four times.
The degree of swelling was calculated using the following