Synthesis and characterization of oil core silica shell nanocapsules for biomedical applications

The possibility of synthesizing water-soluble, biocompatible and shape persistent nanoparticles has been recently in the focus of both academia and industry. Aklylalkoxysilanes are able to form monolayers in 2D at the air/water interface. This study aims to expand this chemistry to 3D using the Oil-in-Water (O/W) microemulsion as a template that contains polymerizable surfactant headgroups available for polymerization at the oil/water interface. The goal is to synthesize the system that would be able to sequester the toxic drug in case of overdose or clinical mistreatment.;The synthetic part of the project showed that it is possible to obtain stable crosslinkable microemulsion droplets using the aklyalkoxysilanes. The silica shell was built around these droplets to further improve the stability of the system. The control over the size was demonstrated for both the oil core templates and the silica shell thickness. The modification of the nanocapsules surface led to particles of superior properties.;Hemolysis and Thromboelastography (TEG) were the two simple tests used to assess the biomedical profile of the nanocapsules and relate these data to the particle surface structure. It was found that the polymer modified particles are more stable and biocompatible. Studies of the uptake potential showed the importance of surface characteristics as well.;The detoxification potential was clearly demonstrated in cardiac muscle cells plated on the Microelectrode arrays (MEAs). A glimpse of the therapeutic effect of ncs in vivo was shown through experiments with living animals.;Overall, the study showed the feasibility of the templated microemulsion approach toward the formation of the functional nano-objects. Considering the results from all of the characterization experiments, the nanocapsule surface is the key feature that determines the overall performance of the particle.