Carbon nanobubbles as containers with unusual loading and release properties
Friday, June 17, 2016 - 05:31
in Physics & Chemistry
Nanocapsules are used, for example, to protect sensitive products in cosmetics and foods, or to deploy pharmaceuticals in a targeted way by releasing them into the body only under specific conditions. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, Swiss scientists have now introduced a new variety of nanocapsule: hollow carbon bubbles made from three to four graphitic layers of carbon atoms. These bubbles are very soluble in water and can spontaneously take up hydrophobic molecules, releasing them only when their concentration in the surroundings gets very low. These are good properties for a drug transport system that releases its cargo over a longer time span.