Generation of polymer nanocapsules via a membrane-extrusion emulsification approach

We describe a simple, effective concept for the fabrication of nanocapsules by combining membrane extrusion and self-emulsification approach. Uniform emulsion droplets containing polymers were firstly prepared through the extrusion strategy, and relatively uniform nanocapsules can thus be generated after complete removal of the organic solvent. Size and size distribution of the capsules can be easily tuned through varying initial polymer concentration and extrusion pass times. This facile approach can be extended to generate different biodegradable polymer nanocapsules which will find applications in the fields of drug delivery, bioimaging, and diagnostics. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.