Incorporation of Hydrophobic Dyes within Cellulose Acetate and Acetate Phthalate Based Nanoparticles

Polysaccharide based nanoparticles (NP) have demonstrated a unique potential for biomedical and biotechnological applications. Various functionalities can be covalently linked to these NP, however, physical entrapment of functional compounds is still a highly desired approach, e.g., for drug delivery. Using different dyes, it is demonstrated how hydrophobic compounds can be incorporated into composite particles derived from cellulosic esters and how the particle properties are affected by the composition. The dye loaded NP are studied by UV-vis spectroscopy to gain insight in the interaction of the hydrophobic compounds with the cellulosic matrix. By using functional cellulose derivatives, in particular carboxylate group bearing acetate phthalates, it is possible to introduce reactive moieties on the NP surface that can be exploited for coupling additional functionalities such as antibodies. By this approach, NP can be obtained that are well suited as dye labels in immunoassay applications