Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub)

Research article2020Peer reviewedOpen access

Self-Assembly of Asymmetrically Functionalized Titania Nanoparticles into Nanoshells

Svensson, Fredric G.; Seisenbaeva, Gulaim A.; Kotov, Nicholas A.; Kessler, Vadim G.

Abstract

Titania (anatase) nanoparticles were anisotropically functionalized in water-toluene Pickering emulsions to self-assemble into nanoshells with diameters from 500 nm to 3 mu m as candidates for encapsulation of drugs and other compounds. The water-phase contained a hydrophilic ligand, glucose-6-phosphate, while the toluene-phase contained a hydrophobic ligand, n-dodecylphosphonic acid. The addition of a dilute sodium alginate suspension that provided electrostatic charge was essential for the self-limited assembly of the nanoshells. The self-assembled spheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, elemental mapping, and atomic force microscopy. Drug release studies using tetracycline suggest a rapid release dominated by surface desorption.

Keywords

self-assembly; nanoshells (hollow spheres); janus particles; pickering emulsion

Published in

Materials
2020, Volume: 13, number: 21, article number: 4856
Publisher: MDPI