Formation and stabilisation of triclosan colloidal suspensions using supersaturated systems.

The aim of this paper is to prepare and stabilise, in situ, colloidal microsuspensions of triclosan using the polymer, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC). The suspensions were prepared from supersaturated solutions of triclosan. The cosolvent technique was used to create supersaturation. Propylene glycol and water were used as the cosolvents. The triclosan particles had a large needle-shaped morphology, when grown in the absence of the polymer. Moreover, the particles grew rapidly to sizes greater than 5 micrometer over a period of 7h. When HPMC was added, the particle sizes were in the range 90-250 nm depending on the amount of polymer present in the solutions. The stability of the solutions was evaluated over a period of 40 days during which the particle sizes did not vary. The results were consistent with the mechanism proposed by Raghavan et al. [Int. J. Pharm. 212 (2001b) 213].