Gelation of charged catanionic vesicles prepared by a semispontaneous process

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Colloid Science

Background:

• Catanionic vesicles are self-assembled structures formed from oppositely charged surfactants.
• Controlling vesicle charge and properties is crucial for their application in delivery systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To prepare stable charged catanionic vesicles with tunable zeta-potentials.
• To investigate the gelation of these vesicles using various water-soluble polymers.
• To understand the interactions governing vesicle-polymer systems for potential drug delivery.

Main Methods:

• Semispontaneous formation of catanionic vesicles using an ion-pair amphiphile and component ionic surfactants with a cosolvent.
• Gelation studies using tube inversion and rheological analysis with four different polymers.
• Construction of phase maps to delineate regions of phase separation, viscous solution, and gel.

Main Results:

• Stable catanionic vesicles with zeta-potentials ranging from +59 mV to -96 mV were successfully prepared.
• Phase maps were constructed, illustrating gelation behavior based on vesicle composition and polymer content.
• Rheological data indicated electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between vesicles and polymers.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully prepared tunable charged catanionic vesicles.
• The gelation behavior is dependent on vesicle charge and polymer characteristics.
• The findings provide insights into vesicle-polymer interactions, supporting their use in mucosal and transdermal drug delivery.