Ionically crosslinked polyelectrolyte nanocarriers: Recent advances and open problems

• Nanocarriers can be prepared through ionic crosslinking of polyelectrolytes.
• Elevated salt concentrations facilitate the analysis of their formation process.
• Their kinetically-controlled size can be tuned by varying their preparation method.
• Non-DLVO interactions strongly affect their colloidal stability.
• Analysis of their release properties must account for equilibrium partitioning.

Over the past two decades, nanocarriers prepared through ionic crosslinking of polyelectrolytes have been explored in a wide range of applications, including drug delivery, medical imaging and food science. The design and use of these materials require control over their size distributions, stability, and payload uptake and release properties. To this end, we focus on recent progress made towards understanding the physical and colloid chemistry underlying the formation and properties of ionically crosslinked nanocarriers and provide commentary on some unresolved problems.

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