Preparation of ultrafine chitosan particles by reverse microemulsion

Ultrafine chitosan particles were prepared by reverse microemulsion consisting of water, Triton X-100, octanol and cyclohexane. Two methods of preparing ultrafine chitosan particles were adopted and compared using TEM and IR, and possible mechanisms for the formation of ultrafine chitosan particles were proposed. Experimental results show that the method which combined ionic gelation and cross-linking gave uniformly sized chitosan nanoparticles with an average diameter of 92 nm, while the cross-linking without ionic gelation produced spindly chitosan particles with an average length of 943 nm and width of 188 nm.