Nanoparticulate systems are being developed for use in pharmaceutical applications. Our goal is to synthesize "soft" emulsion particles coated with a porous "hard" inorganic shell which, when introduced to the blood intravenously, act as "nanosponges" for removing drug molecules from patients overdosed on lipophilic drugs. The synthetic approach utilizes a biologically inspired mineralization process of surface-induced deposition of calcium carbonate coatings onto charged emulsion droplets. Stearic acid and oil are dispersed in water as emulsion droplets, which are then coated with an amorphous mineral precursor to calcium carbonate using a polymer-induced liquid-precursor (PILP) process. Core-shell particles on the order of 1 to 5 μm in diameter have successfully been synthesized. Current experiments are directed at reducing the particle size using microemulsions, and templating porosity into the shell.
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