A Novel Approach to Prepare Hydroxyapatite-Coated Biodegradable Polymer Microspheres Loaded with Magnetic Fe3O4 via Nanoparticle-Stabilized Emulsions

Abstract

HAp-nanoparticle-coated biodegradable polymer microspheres loaded with magnetic Fe3O4 particles can be successfully prepared by evaporating volatile oil (dichloromethane) from HAp-nanoparticle-stabilized oil droplets containing biodegradable polymer and Fe3O4 particles without any molecular surfactants or polymeric stabilizers. In this study it was found that the hydrophobic surface modification for the Fe3O4 particles was a key factor to prepare stable HAp-nanoparticle-stabilized oil droplets (and HAp-nanoparticle-coated polymer microspheres) loaded with magnetic Fe3O4 particles.