Variations in Calcium and Alginate Ions Concentration in Relation to the Properties of Calcium Alginate Nanoparticles

Alginate belongs to a group of natural polymers called polysaccharides. They have carboxylic functional groups beside hydroxyls which are common in all polysaccharides. These materials show interesting properties due to their
functional groups. One of these properties is the ability of this polymer as a suitable carrier of protecting and transferring drugs and biomolecules. The particle sizes of these polymers are very important for their applications, so different techniques were used for preparation of these materials. In this way polymeric nanoparticles of calcium alginate which are excellent carriers in drug delivery systems were prepared by addition of calcium chloride solution to dilute solution of sodium alginate. Investigation of the size and distribution of nanoparticles were analyzed by SEM method. The concentration effects of both alginate and calcium ions on the size and distribution of  nanoparticles were studied in this research. Results showed that the size of nanoparticles obviously decreased with decreasing polymeric alginate concentration because of lower active sites in polymer chain. On the other hand, the
size and distribution of nanoparticles are significantly improved with increase of calcium cation concentrations. The mean particle size 40-70 nm and spherical shape are the main characteristics of the prepared nanoparticles.