Preparation and characterisation of gelatin–gum arabic aldehyde nanogels via inverse miniemulsion technique

Gelatin–gum arabic aldehyde nanogels designed by a nanoreactor concept using inverse miniemulsion technique were reported. Stable separate miniemulsions were prepared from gelatin (Gel) and gum arabic aldehyde (GAA). These emulsions were intermixed under sonication to obtain cross-linked nanogels. During fusion, cross-linking occurred between aldehyde groups of GAA and amino groups of gelatin. The concentration of the surfactant and weight fraction of water in the inverse miniemulsion was optimised so as to yield nanogels with controlled particle size. Properties of the nanogels were studied by FT-IR spectroscopy, particle size analysis and XRD. Surface morphology of the nanogels was established by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). SEM and particle size analysis confirmed that nanogels possess spherical morphology with an average diameter of 151 ± 6 nm. Hemolysis property of the nanogels was examined and the results indicated that the nanogels were hemocompatible. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the nanogels towards MCF-7 cells was evaluated by MTT assay and the nanogels showed nontoxic behaviour towards the cells. All these studies confirm that these nanogels are potential candidates in applications such as drug and gene delivery.

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