Sol–gel synthesis at neutral pH in W/O microemulsion: A method for enzyme nanoencapsulation in silica gel nanoparticles

The classical sol–gel synthesis of silica gels has been adapted to a W/O (micro)emulsion process under conditions that minimize denaturing effects on encapsulated enzymes. We have in particular focused on optimizing the purification procedures with the aim to produce water nanoparticles dispersions from W/O emulsions without the use of precipitation/sedimentation steps.A proof of principle of encapsulation has been conducted using horseradish peroxidase (HRP).