Osmotic Pressure as Driving Force for Reducing the Size of Nanoparticles in Emulsions

Producing smaller nanoparticles by osmosis

31 May 2023

A way of reducing the size of nanoparticles in emulsions without using large amounts of surfactants has been demonstrated.

Nanoparticles are increasingly being used in medicine to deliver drugs and for imaging. The ability to precisely control the size of nanoparticles is vital since their effectiveness varies with size. In particular, small nanoparticles are better at entering tumours.

Now, four researchers from Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC) in Thailand have shown that osmosis across a membrane can be used to reduce the size of nanoparticles synthesized in an emulsion without excess amounts of surfactants.

They were able to control the size of the nanoparticles by varying surfactant concentration and the process duration.

The researchers anticipate that the nanoparticles could be used in agriculture, bioimaging and nanomedicine.

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References

1. ACS Nano 17, 940−954 (2023). doi: 10.1021/acsnano.2c05565