AOT-Vesicles Produced at the Oil-Water Interface

Abstract

Abstract Vesicles can be found in many applications like drug delivery or as models for cell membranes. It is often necessary to produce vesicles which are easy to adjust in size and which can be filled with different types of ingredients. In this publication we used phase transfer techniques in to form well defined vesicles. The synthesis of these particles occurred in three different steps. First, a water phase was covered by an oil phase containing surfactants. A water-in-oil emulsion was then added to the oil phase. In the third step the phase transfer was stimulated by sedimentation or centrifugation processes. In a series of experiments we measured the vesicle sizes and encapsulation efficiencies. Giant vesicles, formed by sedimentation processes had typical sizes between 1–10 μm. Smaller vesicles between 100–500 nm were observed after centrifugation processes. With both methods we could produce vesicles with encapsulation amounts about 10%.