Journal article
Monodisperse polymer capsules: Tailoring size, shell thickness, and hydrophobic cargo loading via emulsion templating
J Cui, Y Wang, A Postma, J Hao, L Hosta-Rigau, F Caruso
Advanced Functional Materials | WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH | Published : 2010
Abstract
The preparation of monodisperse polymer (polydopamine, PDA) capsules by a one-step interfacial polymerization of dopamine onto dimethyldiethoxysilane (DMDES) emulsion droplets and removal of the DMDES templates with ethanol is reported. The diameters of the PDA capsules can be tailored from 400 nm to 2.4 μm by varying either the DMDES emulsion condensation time or the emulsion concentration used for templating. Further, capsules with defined nanometer-scale shell thicknesses (ranging from ∼10 to 30 nm) can be prepared by adjusting the emulsion concentration. This shell thickness can be increased by repeated interfacial polymerization of dopamine, with three cycles yielding capsules with a sh..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Australian Research Council under the Federation Fellowship (F.C.) and Discovery Project (F.C.) schemes. The China Scholarship Council is acknowledged for a Joint-Education PhD Program Scholarship (J.C.). Benjamin Mashford (The University of Melbourne) is thanked for supplying the quantum dots and Christopher Ochs (The University of Melbourne) for the EDX measurement. Prof. Fernando Albericio (Barcelona Science Park) is acknowledged for helpful discussions. We gratefully acknowledge PharmaMar S.A. for providing the thiocoraline compound.