Abstract
Colloidosomes are composed of an aqueous or hydrogel corethat is coated by a semi-permeable colloidal shell. The properties of the shell can be varied to control the rate of release of encapsulated components such as drugs. Specifi-cally, the pores formed between the colloidal particles suppress transport of large components, while allowing diffusion of smaller ones. Self-assembly of colloidal particles on hydrogel films is a convenient method forcolloidosome synthesis, but to date little is known regarding the effect (if any) of the encapsulated drug on the shell packing density. In this paper we examined self-assembly of colloidal shells on alginate films containing four model drugs: aspirin, caffeine, theophylline and theobromine. We find that the packing density in the colloidal shells is low for all drugs, and ranges between 0.16 and 0.3. There is no clear correlation between drug properties (in particular, water solubility) and the packing density of the self-assembled colloidal shell.
Highlights
Selective control of drug transport is of interest for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food applications [1,2,3,4,5,6]
We find that the packing density in the colloidal shells is low for all drugs, and ranges between 0.16 and 0.3
Colloidosomes [7] are aqueous microcapsule volumes coated by a shell of colloidal particles [7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]: The packed colloidal particles form a barrier for transport, whose pore size may be controlled through choice of the colloidal particle size and the packing density in the shell [7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]
Summary
Selective control of drug transport is of interest for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food applications [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Several methodologies have been developed to form the colloidal shells of colloidosomes. They utilize the tendency of the particles to assemble at the interface between hydrophilic and hydrophobic fluids [7,13,14,15]. The conditions involved are often not compatible with those needed for biological agents. As a result, they cannot be used for drug encapsulation
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