abstract
The inherently large mesh size of hydrogels has hindered the effectiveness of carrier systems processed under fully aqueous conditions for the controlled delivery of small molecules (1000 Da). Here, we report the development of stable liquid-core capsules, made of alginate and ε-poly-L-lysine, with the ability to modulate the entrance and release of small hydrophilic molecules with diverse charge properties. The low permeability features of the capsules prepared with water as the sole solvent were imparted by a post-processing step with the natural polyphenol tannic acid. The role of capsule size in the release profile of small molecules was addressed: treated capsules with diameters of ca. 3 mm, as well as their miniaturized counterparts with ca. 600 m supported the delayed release of small molecules. Control counterparts, on their turn, led to burst release profiles typical of large mesh size polymeric systems. The developed platform offers a fully aqueous route to engineer controlled release systems, with potential impact in applications that may benefit from the tailored delivery of small molecules, including drug administration, precision agriculture, and miniaturized reactors.
authors
Neves, Rita C; Neves, Bárbara; Morais, Bruno P.; Gonçalves, Raquel C.; Mano, João F.; Oliveira, Mariana B.; Autor correspondente: Oliveira, Mariana B.
our authors
Bárbara Seabra Neves
Research Fellowship
Bruno Daniel Pinto Morais
PhD Student
João Mano
Full professor
Mariana Braga de Oliveira
Assistant Researcher
Raquel Maria da Costa Gonçalves
PhD Student
Rita Neves
Research FellowshipProjects
Collaboratory for Emerging Technologies, CoLab (EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)
Advancing the Regenerative and Translational Potential of Cellular Fibers (CellFi)
Associated Laboratory CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (LA/P/0006/2020)
acknowledgements
This work was supported by the project Suspharma - Merging sustainable and digital chemical technologies for the development of greener-by design pharmaceuticals (HORIZON-HLTH-2021-IND-07-101057430) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) with the project “CellFi” PTDC/BTM-ORG/3215/2020 (DOI10.54499/PTDC/BTM-ORG/3215/2020). This work was also developed within the scope of the project CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials, UID/50011/2025 & LA/P/0006/2020 (DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0006/2020), financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).