The main objective of this study was to allocate and evaluate the most optimum conditions to prepare the 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) entrapped polycaprolactone (PCL) nanoparticles (5-FU–PCNs) by eco-friendly route. The inner aqueous phase (W1) was added to solution containing PCL with homogenization to form primary emulsion (W1/O) which was emulsified with the outer aqueous phase (W2) containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as stabilizer to attain the double emulsion (W1/O/W2). The different parameters were investigated to reach the most successful formulation for 5-FU–PCNs, such as polymer concentration, effect of stabilizer concentration ratio (0.5%, 1% and 3%) on drug encapsulation efficiency, etc. The encapsulation efficiency of PCNs was in the range of 14-65.6%. The prepared nanoparticles showed the spherical shape having an average size of 183-944nm.The prepared systems were elucidated by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-spectroscopy, photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA),scanning electron (SEM) and atomic-force microscopy (AFM).
The optimized ratios of the different parameters of double emulsion process were founded. SEM and AFM confirmed the complicated morphology and the formation of the spherical micro- and nanocapsules.