Spontaneous Vesicles Modulated by Polymers

Abstract

Vesicles are widely used in technological applications including cosmetic products, in microencapsulation for drug delivery, as anticancer agents and in the technology of adhesives, paints and inks. The vesicle size and the surface charge are very important properties from a technological point of view. Thus, the challenge in formulation is to find inexpensive stable vesicles with well-defined sizes and to modulate the surface charge of these aggregates. In this work we analyze the effect of different polymers on the structural properties of vesicles of the biodegradable surfactant sodium bis(2-ethyl-hexyl) sulfosuccinate, Aerosol OT. Using fluorescence, conductivity, electrophoretic mobility and dynamic light scattering measurements we study the effect of the polymer nature, molecular weight and polymer concentration on the stability and the vesicle size properties. Results demonstrate that it is possible to modulate both the size and the electric surface charge of spontaneous vesicles of Aerosol OT by the addition of very small percentages of poly(allylamine) and poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecen).