Preparation of Novel Nano-Sized Hydrogel Microcapsules via Layer-By-Layer Assembly as Delivery Vehicles for Drugs onto Hygiene Paper.

Junrong Li,Xiaobang Hou,Jing Zou,Huining Xiao,Liying Qian,Beihai He

doi:10.3390/polym10030335

Abstract

Hydrogel microcapsules are improved transplantation delivery vehicles for pharmaceuticals by effectively segregating the active ingredients from the surroundings and delivering them to a certain target site. Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly is an attractive process to fabricate the nano-sized hydrogel microcapsules. In this study, nano-sized hydrogel microcapsules were prepared through LbL assembly using calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CaCO3 NPs) as the sacrificial inorganic template, sodium alginate (SA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) as the shell materials. Ciprofloxacin was used to study the encapsulation and release properties of the hydrogel microcapsules. The hydrogel microcapsules were further adsorbed onto the paper to render antimicrobial properties. The results showed that the mean size of the CaCO3 template was reduced after dispersing into sodium n-dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution under sonication. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) revealed that some hydrogel microcapsules had a diameter under 200 nm, typical creases and collapses were found on the surface. The nano-sized PEI/SA hydrogel microcapsules showed high loading capacity of ciprofloxacin and a sustained release. PEI/SA hydrogel microcapsules rendered good antimicrobial properties onto the paper by the adsorption of hydrogel microcapsules, however, the mechanical properties of the hygiene paper were decreased.

Highlights

Encapsulation is a promising route for the development of improved transplantation delivery vehicles for pharmaceuticals by effectively segregating the active ingredients from the surroundings for the given period of time and delivering them to a certain target site from harsh environment factors, such as pH, salts, and shear stress
CaCO3 microparticles were used as templates to assemble the hydrogel microcapsules [40] and CaCO3 NPs were seldom to be used because they were ready to agglomerate in aqueous solution [41,42,43] due to the small size and high surface energy
Nano-sized hydrogel microcapsules were prepared through layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, using calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CaCO3 NPs) as the sacrificial inorganic template, using calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CaCO3 NPs) as the sacrificial inorganic template, polyethyleneimine (PEI) and sodium alginate (SA) as the wall materials

Summary

Introduction

Encapsulation is a promising route for the development of improved transplantation delivery vehicles for pharmaceuticals by effectively segregating the active ingredients from the surroundings for the given period of time and delivering them to a certain target site from harsh environment factors, such as pH, salts, and shear stress. Microfluidics has emerged as a powerful tool for generating hydrogel microcapsules without damages to encapsulated cells, the obtained hydrogel microcapsules are usually dispersed in an oil phase and difficult to be extracted for further biomedical applications [20]. It is feasible for some approaches (microfluidics or 3D printing-assisted microfluidics [6]) to realize continuous production of functional hydrogel microcapsules with a size of several hundred micro meters [21], the preparation of nano-sized hydrogel microcapsules is still challenging. LbL polyelectrolyte assembly is an attractive process for coating templates and subsequently removing the core to fabricate hydrogel microcapsules [22,23,24,25]

Methods

Results

Conclusion