E. Van Keuren, E. Hughes, O. Bulgin, Y. Chung, S. Taylor, H. Cartwright, L. Chen, R. Alan, A. Keegan, A. Stevens
Georgetown University,
United States
Keywords: multicomponent nanoparticles, nanoprecipitation
Summary:
Over the past several decades, a great deal of research in nanoscience has focused on multicomponent nanoparticles. The incorporation of multiple chemical species into a single particle can provide multiple functionalities, as well as new properties not observed for the individual components. However, understanding how different molecules can be assembled into a single solid phase is not always straightforward, since the formation often occurs under inhomogeneous and/or nonequilibrium conditions. My lab has been studying a number of methods for creating multicomponent nanoparticles for different applications. I will discuss some of the issues involved in getting multiple components to colocalize into nanoparticles and show several applications that we have been developing: the synthesis of nanoparticle contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging using miniemulsion polymerization, the formulation of novel copolymer nanoparticles for treating acute kidney injury, and the synthesis of liquid-core polymer-shell nanocapsules using “flash nanoprecipitation.”