Abstract—In this research, carrageenan extracted from seaweed Eucheuma cottonii was mixed with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and then crosslinked using glutaraldehyde (GA). The obtained hydrogel films were applied to control the drug release rate of paracetamol. The aim of this research was to develop a mathematical model that can be used to describe the mass transfer rate of paracetamol from the hydrogel film into buffer solution. The effect of weight ratio carrageenan-PVA (5: 0, 1: 0.5, 1: 1, 1: 2, 0: 5) on the parameters of the mathematical model was investigated also. Based on the experimental data, the proposed mathematical model could describe the mass transfer rate of paracetamol. The weight ratio of carrageenan-PVA greatly affected the amount of paracetamol absorbed in the hydrogel film and the mass transfer rate of paracetamol. Keywords—Carrageenan-PVA, crosslinking, hydrogel, glutaraldehyde, paracetamol, mass transfer. I. INTRODUCTION UR research is related to the development of applicability of hydrogels based on natural polysaccharides. Hydrogel is a hydrophilic polymer that has the ability of swelling in water, but not soluble in water, while maintaining the original shape. Hydrogels have a high water permeability so that it can be used as a matrix to control drug release. Raw material for making hydrogels that can be applied as a control drug release can be derived from natural polymers such as starch [1], calcium alginate-carboxymethyl cellulose [2], k-carrageenan- sodium carboxymethyl cellulose [3], and can also be derived from synthetic polymers such as PVA [4], polyvinylpyrollidone, and polyethylene glycol [5]. Kappa carrageenan, which shows the ability to form a thermo-reversible gel, is also widely used as gelling agent, thickener and stabilizer in various industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, printing, and textile [6], [7]. Kappa carrageenan has a structure of D-galactose and some 2- sulfate ester groups on the 3,6 anhydro-D-galactose. PVA is a hydrophilic synthetic polymer that has biodegradable properties and excellent biocompatibility [4]. This research mixed kappa carrageenan extracted from seaweed Indonesia (Eucheuma cottonii) with PVA to prepare a film that can be applied as a hydrogel for drug delivery system. To obtain the structure of the hydrogel, carrageenan-PVA Sperisa Distantina is with the with the Chemical Engineering Department, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A Surakarta 57126, Indonesia (corresponding author phone/fax: +62271632112, e-mail: sperisa_distantina@staff.uns.ac.id). Rieke Ulfha Noviyanti, Sri Sutriyani, Fadilah, and Mujtahid Kaavessina are with the Chemical Engineering Department, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A Surakarta 57126, Indonesia. mixture needs to be modified with crosslinking. Crosslinking is the method of merging two or more molecules by a covalent bond resulting in the molecule structure becoming more rigid. A crosslinker agent is molecule that contains two or more chemically reactive substances and able to attract specific functional groups. GA is one of crosslinking agents that widely used in preparing hydrogel for controlled-release of small molecules. In the present work, GA was used as the crosslinking agent for preparing crosslinked carrageenan-PVA film. Paracetamol drug is widely used and applied in various treatments such as medication for fever and pain relief. Paracetamol was selected as a model drug. There is no previous study on GA crosslinked carrageenan-PVA as hydrogel matrices for controlled drug delivery of paracetamol. Hezafeh [8] studied a mixture of carrageenan-PVA which crosslinking with genipin used as a matrix controller drug release β-carotene; however, drug mass transfer has not been studied. The understanding of drug mass transfer is essential to predict the drug performance. Many mathematical models of drug mass transfer have been developed by previous researchers [9]. Unfortunately, these models did not consider the equilibrium concept in interphase mass transfer [10], [11]. The purpose of this study was to develop the mathematical model that can be used to describe the phenomena of paracetamol mass transfer, as well as determine the effect of the weight ratio of PVA-carrageenan and loading time of paracetamol to the parameters of the paracetamol release rate of the film to a buffer solution. The mechanism of solute mass transfer from solid to liquid consists of a series of steps. The steps are the diffusion mass transfer of solute in the solid to the surface of solid and the interphase mass transfer from surface of solid to liquid bulk. In this research, the experimental setup and procedure used to drug release test was conducted in a batch system by placing the hydrogel film in a glass beaker containing buffer solution. The proposed mathematical model of paracetamol release took some following assumptions: 1. The hydrogel film was a thin slab solid (less than 0.1 cm), so that paracetamol diffusion in film was very fast than interphase mass transfer, 2. Volume of the solution was constant, and 3. Weight of film was constant. The process of paracetamol mass transfer is shown in Fig. 1. Sperisa Distantina, Rieke Ulfha Noviyanti, Sri Sutriyani, Fadilah Fadilah, Mujtahid Kaavessina Mass Transfer of Paracetamol from the Crosslinked Carrageenan-Polyvinyl Alcohol Film O World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Chemical and Molecular Engineering Vol:11, No:9, 2017 619 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 11(9) 2017 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/10007879 International Science Index, Chemical and Molecular Engineering Vol:11, No:9, 2017 waset.org/Publication/10007879