Permanent Retention of Small Molecules within Metal Microcapsules

Efficient encapsulation of small molecules and their controlled targeted delivery provides a very important challenge to be overcome for a wide range of industrial applications. Although numerous methods have been proposed to address the retention of low molecular weight molecules within micro and nano capsules, diffusion of these actives across capsule walls has so far prevented the development of a versatile widely applicable solution. Here we show that thin metal shells around liquid core micro-capsules are able to permanently retain small molecules in a system where the micro-capsule suspension continuous phase can fully dissolve the core.

Auteur

Dr James Hitchcock, Research fellow University of Leeds