Layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolytes onto fluid micro-interfaces: Polyelectrolyte-coated liposomes

M. RUANO; H. RITACCO; R. G. RUBIO; F. ORTEGA

San Francisco. California. USA

Conferencia; Spring 2010 Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry; 2010

Within the field of nanostructured materials, multilayers self-assembled using the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique have a promising future for different applications like sensors, functional coatings, etc. In particular polyelectrolyte multilayer microcapsules have potential applications as drug delivery carriers and DNA encapsulation. Usually polyelectrolyte microcapsules are prepared by LbL coating of a template micro- or nano-particle, and subsequent dissolution of the template1. We will present results concerning the formation of polyelectrolyte microcapsules obtained by LbL coating of charged liposomes, this method avoid the core dissolution process that may involve problems of degradation and presence of impurities. We used unilamellar liposomes of 60nm radius, prepared by extrusion from mixtures of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) and the charged surfactant dioctadecyl-dimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) with different mole ratios. The multilayers where constructed by sequential adsorption of poly-(styrenesulfonate, sodium salt) (PSS) and poly (allylaminehydrochloride) (PAH). The capsules have been characterized by z-potential, light-scattering and cryo-TEM.