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Updated: Jul 21, 2025

Self-Nanoemulsification of Healthy Oils to Enhance the Solubility of Lipophilic Drugs
Published on: July 27, 2022
Self-assembled low molecular weight chitosan-based cationic micelle for improved water solubility, stability and
Yuting Yuan1, Zhenhua Wang2, Shengjia Su3
1Key Laboratory of Coastal Biology and Bioresource Utilization, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
Abstract:
New amphiphilic low molecular weight chitosan-graft-nicotinic acid bearing decyl groups (LCND) was synthesized by two-step reaction and spontaneously assembled into cationic micelle by ultra-sonication method to improve water solubility and photostability properties of α-tocopherol. The chemical structure of LCND was characterized and physical properties of cationic micelle were evaluated. Results displayed that cationic micelle exhibited strong self-assemble ability with nanoscale spherical morphology and showed best loading ability with loading content of 18.50% when the feeding ratio of LCND to α-tocopherol reached 10:3. Meanwhile, the greatly enhanced water solubility, photostability and sustained release behavior of α-tocopherol in cationic micelle were observed. The cumulative release of α-tocopherol in cationic micelle reached up 82.18% within 96 h while free α-tocopherol was completely released within 10 h. Additionally, release kinetics models were also fitted. The LCND cationic micelle could be promising nanocarrier for improving the physicochemical properties of α-tocopherol in food fields.

