Preparation of Swellable Hydrogel-Containing Colloidosomes from Aqueous Two-Phase Pickering Emulsion Droplets

Abstract

The fabrication of stable colloidosomes derived from water-in-water Pickering-like emulsions are described that were produced by addition of fluorescent amine-modified polystyrene latex beads to an aqueous two-phase system consisting of dextran-enriched droplets dispersed in a PEG-enriched continuous phase. Addition of polyacrylic acid followed by carbodiimide-induced crosslinking with dextran produces hydrogelled droplets capable of reversible swelling and selective molecular uptake and exclusion. Colloidosomes produced specifically in all-water systems could offer new opportunities in microencapsulation and the bottom-up construction of synthetic protocells.

Keywords: aqueous two-phase systems; colloidosomes; encapsulation; sequestration; water-in-water emulsions.