The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education & School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China.
Department of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N. T., Hong Kong, P. R. China.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2024 Sep;45(18):e2400289. doi: 10.1002/marc.202400289. Epub 2024 Jul 29.
Microcapsules have attracted significant attention in academia and industry due to their unique properties for protecting and controlling the release of active substances. However, based on water-insoluble biopolymers, developing a straightforward approach to prepare microcapsules with improved biocompatibility and functional shells remains a great challenge. In this study, zein, a water-insoluble protein, is employed to prepare robust microcapsules facilely using oil-in-aqueous ethanol Pickering emulsions as templates. First, the emulsion template is stabilized by hydrophobic silica nanoparticles with in situ surface modification of tannic acid. The zein is then precipitated at the interface in a controlled manner using antisolvent approach to obtain silica/tannic acid/zein (STZ) microcapsules. It is found that the concentration of zein and the presence of tannic acid played a significant role in the formation of STZ microcapsules with well-defined morphology and a robust shell. The uniform deposition of zein on the surface of template droplets is facilitated by the interactions between tannic acid and zein via hydrogen bond and electrostatic force. Finally, the resulting STZ microcapsules showed super resistance to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and high temperature for the unstable, lipophilic, and active substance of β-carotene.
微胶囊由于其保护和控制活性物质释放的独特性质，在学术界和工业界引起了极大的关注。然而，基于水不溶性生物聚合物，开发一种简单的方法来制备具有改善的生物相容性和功能性外壳的微胶囊仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在本研究中，玉米醇溶蛋白作为一种水不溶性蛋白质，被用来通过油包水乙醇 Pickering 乳液作为模板，简便地制备坚固的微胶囊。首先，用单宁酸原位表面改性的疏水性二氧化硅纳米粒子稳定乳液模板。然后，通过反溶剂法在界面上以受控的方式沉淀玉米醇溶蛋白，以获得具有良好形态和坚固外壳的二氧化硅/单宁酸/玉米醇溶蛋白（STZ）微胶囊。结果表明，玉米醇溶蛋白的浓度和单宁酸的存在对 STZ 微胶囊的形成起着重要作用，得到的 STZ 微胶囊形态规则，外壳坚固。单宁酸和玉米醇溶蛋白之间通过氢键和静电力相互作用，促进了玉米醇溶蛋白在模板液滴表面的均匀沉积。最后，所得到的 STZ 微胶囊对不稳定、亲脂性和活性物质β-胡萝卜素表现出超强的抗紫外线（UV）辐射和耐高温能力。
