Novel self-assembling nanogels: Stability and lyophilisation studies

The stability of new supramolecular nanoassemblies (nanogels), based on the association of a hydrophobically modified dextran (MD) and a β-cyclodextrin polymer (pβCD), has been studied by two complementary methods: (i) size measurements and (ii) turbidity experiments using a Turbiscan optical analyser. Nanogels of about 120–150 nm were obtained whatever the concentration of the two polymer solutions. At low concentrations, the suspensions presented little mean diameter variations upon storage. However, the concentrated ones tended to destabilize and their mean diameter increased upon time. Size measurements and Turbiscan investigations have demonstrated that destabilization in the MD–pβCD nanogel suspension was only due to particle aggregation and/or fusion, as no sedimentation or creaming occurred. The destabilization of MD–pβCD suspensions led to the formation of a highly viscous phase, as a final state. Moreover, the two methods have shown that aggregation and/or fusion phenomena were more pronounced in the concentrated MD–pβCD suspensions than in the diluted ones. The stability of MD–pβCD suspensions could be improved by their storage at 4 °C. Finally, freeze-drying was found to be a convenient method for the long-time storage of MD–pβCD nanoassemblies.