Preparation of poly (alkylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles by polymerization of water-free microemulsions

Karen Krauel, Anja Graf, Sarah M Hook, Nigel M Davies, Thomas Rades

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    13 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Phase diagrams of the pseudoternary systems ethyloleate, polyoxyethylene 20 sorbitan mono-oleate/sorbitan monolaurate and propylene glycol with and without butanol as a co-surfactant were prepared. Areas containing optically isotropic, one-phase systems were identified and samples therein designated as droplet, bicontinuous or solution type microemulsions using conductivity, viscosity and self-diffusion NMR. Nanoparticles were prepared by polymerization of selected microemulsions with ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate and the morphology of the particles was investigated. Addition of monomer to all types of microemulsions led to the formation of nanoparticles, which had an average size of 244 +/- 25 nm, an average polydispersity index of 0.15 +/- 0.04 and a zeta-potential of -17 +/- 3 mV. The formation of particles from water-free microemulsions of different types is surprising, particularly considering that polymerization is expected to occur at a water-oil interface by base-catalysed polymerization. It would appear that propylene glycol is sufficiently nucleophilic to initiate the polymerization. The use of water-free microemulsions as templates for the preparation of poly (alkylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles opens up interesting opportunities for the encapsulation of bioactives which do not have suitable properties for encapsulation on the basis of water-containing microemulsions.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalJournal of Microencapsulation
    Volume23
    Issue number5
    Pages (from-to)499-512
    Number of pages14
    ISSN0265-2048
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2006

    Keywords

    • Cyanoacrylates
    • Diffusion
    • Drug Compounding
    • Electric Conductivity
    • Emulsions
    • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
    • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
    • Nanoparticles
    • Particle Size
    • Polymers
    • Propylene Glycol
    • Solubility
    • Surface Properties
    • Surface-Active Agents
    • Viscosity

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