Polymeric Thin Films as an Emerging Formulation Approach for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications
A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmaceutical Technology, Manufacturing and Devices".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2021) | Viewed by 20712
Special Issue Editors
Interests: transport in porous media; drug release; dispersion theory; chromatography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: lipid-based delivery systems; nanoemulsions; liposomes; magnetoliposomes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, a great amount of focus has been placed upon polymeric thin films as versatile technological tools for pharmaceutical applications ranging from functional coatings to novel drug delivery systems.
As coating materials, they have been used first as tools to control the release of therapeutic molecules. More recently, the deposition of polymeric thin films on solid surfaces of biomaterials has been proposed as a novel strategy to modulate surface properties in order to influence/control their bio-interaction.
Moreover, polymeric thin films have also been identified as an alternative and convenient dosage form to conventional approaches, because of their ability to safely load drugs and release them in a controlled manner.
Thin films are considered to be convenient as a swallowable, self-administrable, usually fast-dissolving dosage form. Film-form systems can also act as a matrix for the sustained release of drugs. All of these features make thin films a versatile platform for drug delivery via several routes such as oral, buccal, sublingual, ocular, and transdermal.
The design of an efficient thin film, used as a polymer coating or a solid dosage form, requires the investigation of the physical and chemical properties of the film-forming polymers as well as physical, chemical, and pharmacological characteristics of the drug substances to be used. Manufacturing aspects of films and the characterization of critical properties such as film thickness, mechanical characteristics, adhesive strength, drug content uniformity, and permeation rate represent the major research areas in the design of thin films for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.
This Special Issue aims to provide an overview of the critical factors affecting the formulation or deposition of thin films and the more recent trends in their characterization methods and quality specifications. We invite research scientists from academia and the pharmaceutical industry to submit original research articles or review articles.
Prof. Dr. Alessandra Adrover
Dr. Stefania Petralito
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- polymeric thin films
- coatings
- fast-dissolving dosage form
- matrix for sustained release of drug
- manufacturing aspects
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