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Facile Formation of Medium‐Chain‐Length Poly‐3‐Hydroxyalkanoates (mcl‐PHA)‐Incorporated Nanoparticle Using Combination of Non‐Ionic Surfactants
Author(s) -
Ishak K. A.,
Annuar M. Suffian M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of surfactants and detergents
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.349
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1558-9293
pISSN - 1097-3958
DOI - 10.1007/s11743-017-1928-x
Subject(s) - chemistry , emulsion , lamellar structure , chemical engineering , phase inversion , nanoparticle , crystallography , organic chemistry , membrane , biochemistry , engineering
Abstract The assembly of nanoparticles incorporating bacterial medium‐chain‐length poly‐3‐hydroxyalkanoates (mcl‐PHA) via phase inversion emulsification (PIE) was investigated. Sequential addition of water into an agitated mixture of carrier oil (jojoba oil), nonionic surfactants (Cremophor EL and Span 80) and melted mcl‐PHA triggered phase inversion of water‐in‐oil (W/O) to oil‐in‐water (O/W) emulsion. The emulsion inversion point (EIP) at 30% w/w of water content was determined by abrupt changes in viscosity and conductivity of the suspension. Concurrently, infrared transmittance of the O–H group of water, the C–O–C group of surfactants and the C–H group of alkane chain were practically identical while Small Angle X‐ray Scattering indicated the presence of a bi‐continuous/lamellar structure. The morphology of the emulsion changed, with increasing water content, from W/O to bi‐continuous/lamellar structure and finally to O/W. mcl‐PHA appears to form a bridging polymeric network, covering the nanoparticle with a protective layer for enhanced protection of the encapsulated compound. A hypothetical mechanism for the mcl‐PHA‐based nanoparticle assembly is also proposed.