Recent Publication from Van Keuren Group

Figure from the paper, with example scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images for nanocapsules prepared with variable ratios of n-hexadecane to polystyrene.

Prof. Edward Van Keuren of the ISM and his lab have recently published a new paper appearing in Heliyon: “Liquid-core polymer nanocapsules prepared using flash nanoprecipitation”. The research explores incorporating multiple chemical species into single nanocapsules for advantageous applications, using the method of flash precipitation for synthesis. This method of rapidly mixing a solution with a miscible nonsolvent relies on the different rates of diffusion of the solid and liquid phase and can be described by the droplet model of formation previously developed by the researchers. In this research, nanocapsules with a n-hexadecane liquid core and solid polystyrene shell were successfully synthesized, and characterized using dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Additionally, a linear relationship between particle size and initial concentration of sample was observed and explained by the droplet model. These results can be useful in further studies of liquid core nanoparticles, and their applications in fields including drug delivery and food packaging.