Solvents causing a swell
Controlled release of fluorescent dye from swelling nanocapsules is leading the way in stimuli-responsive materials
Korean scientists have developed solvent-responsive polymer nanocapsules. Kimoon Kim and co-workers from Pohang University of Science and Technology and Korea University, Seoul, found that these nanocapsules swelled or deswelled in response to a change in the solvent mixture. The swelling led to an increase in the permeability of the capsule, resulting in the controlled release of an encapsulated fluorescent dye.
![swellsolvents](https://img.chemie.de/Portal/News/2099_-vzZskzyKg.jpg?tr=n-xzoom)
Hollow capsules, particularly stimuli-responsive capsules, are of considerable interest because of their potential applications in various areas including drug delivery. Kim explains that ‘although there are a number of examples of stimuli-responsive polyelectrolyte capsules, vesicles, and self-assembled synthetic capsules, stimuli-responsive cross-linked polymer capsules with controlled permeability are still rare.’
However, Kim says that designing and making these capsules for practical applications is still a challenge. ‘For such stimuli-responsive nanocapsules to be clinically useful in drug delivery or diagnostic applications, they should be non-toxic, non-immunogenic and cleared from the body after a certain period of time,’ he explains.
‘One of our ultimate goals is to develop a universal drug carrier useful in targeted drug delivery using such stimuli-responsive polymer nanocapsules with a versatile surface modification capability,’ says Kim. ‘This work is a first major step toward this goal.’
Original publication: Eunju Kim et al., Chem. Commun., 2009.
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