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Sizing nanoparticle-covered droplets by extrusion through track-etch membranes
Ravisubhash Tangirala1, Ravindra Revanur, Thomas P Russell
1Polymer Science & Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|January 24, 2007
Summary
Track-etch membranes precisely control nanoparticle-coated droplet size by extrusion. Functional ligands stabilize droplet diameter post-processing for uniform nanoparticle delivery.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Colloid Science
Background:
- Nanoparticles spontaneously segregate at interfaces, like water-in-oil droplets.
- Current methods yield broad droplet size distributions (10-200+ micrometers).
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce track-etch membranes for precise control over nanoparticle-coated droplet sizes.
- To enable uniform nanoparticle delivery via controlled droplet sizing.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing track-etch membranes to extrude and size nanoparticle-coated droplets.
- Employing functional ligands on nanoparticles for post-extrusion stabilization.
- Inducing polymerization/cross-linking of ligand periphery to fix droplet diameter.
Main Results:
- Track-etch membranes effectively reduce droplet size by fragmentation and reformation.
- Reformed droplets exhibit diameters comparable to membrane pore size.
- Functional ligands ensure stable, uniform droplet sizes after membrane passage.
Conclusions:
- Track-etch membranes offer a novel method for precise nanoparticle-coated droplet size control.
- This technique allows for the generation of monodisperse droplets for controlled applications.
- Ligand functionalization is key to achieving stable, uniformly sized nanoparticle carriers.
