Preparation and Characterization of Sodium Alginate and Polyquaternium‐10 Hollow Microcapsules by a Layer‐by‐Layer Self‐Assembly Technique

Abstract

AbstractNovel micro‐scaled hollow capsules were obtained by consecutively adsorbing oppositely‐charged polyelectrolytes of sodium alginate (ALG) and polyquaternium‐10 (PQ‐10) on biocompatible porous calcium carbonate (CaCO3) microspheres, followed by the subsequent removal of the CaCO3 template using acetic acid. The properties of the microcapsules were characterized at various stages of the preparation procedure by using a zeta potential analyzer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The results demonstrated that ALG and PQ‐10 were successfully assembled on the surface of the CaCO3 microspheres, and the resulting hollow microcapsules exhibited spherical morphology with typical folds by SEM observations. Furthermore, TEM observations indicated that the average thickness of the monolayer film was ∼1–2 nm, and CLSM results revealed that the microcapsules possessed selective permeability for different charged molecules.