CELL 150 - Ultrasound-driven self-assembly of natural polyphenols into microcapsules and nanoparticles for storage and delivery of hydrophobic molecules

Microcapsules of oil-filled lignins and lignin nanoparticles were synthesized by first creating a lignin emulsion in oil followed by a high intensity ultrasound assisted stacking process at the water/oil interface. The rationale behind our approach is based on promoting documented natural polyphenols hydrophobic interactions within the oil phase, followed by eventually locking the resulting spherical configurations by covalent crosslinking using a high intensity ultrasound treatment. Confocal and optical microscopies confirmed the resulting uniformly spherical configuration of the created lignin micro/nano particles offering further evidence in support of our rationale. The precise elucidation of the cross-linking processes was carried out using GPC and quantitative 31P-NMR analyses. The ability of lignin microcapsules to incorporate and release actives was evaluated in detail.