Development and characterization of nanocapsules comprising dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride and κ-carrageenan

The aim of this work was to develop and characterize a new type of nanocapsules. To this end, a nanoemulsion bearing an oily core (Miglyol 812) was obtained by spontaneous emulsification and stabilized by dodecyl-trimethylammonium chloride (DTAC), a commercial cationic surfactant; this nanoemulsion was coated with proportionally very small amounts of κ-carrageenan (at molar charge ratios of Z ≤ 0.0045) that interact predominantly by an electrostatic mechanism with the positively charged sites at the polar heads of DTAC at the nanoemulsion's surface to harness nanocapsules of average size ~250-330 nm and zeta potential (ζ) ranging from ~+80 to +7 mV. The potential application of the new type of developed nanosystems as drug delivery vehicles has yet to be investigated and fully realized.