Synthesis of a benzyl-grafted alginate derivative and its effect on the colloidal stability of nanosized titanium dioxide aqueous suspensions for Pickering emulsions

Abstract

TiO₂ nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂) as one of the most extensively used nanoscale materials easily undergo spontaneous aggregation and gravity sedimentation ascribed to their high adsorption energy, which significantly restricts their actual applications. For this reason, a benzyl-grafted alginate derivative (BAD) with good colloidal interface activity, prepared by a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (S_N2) reaction, was used as the dispersant to stabilize nano-TiO₂. The structure and colloidal properties of BAD was evaluated by FT-IR spectroscopy, ¹H NMR spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The effects of pH and ionic strength on the dispersion stability of BAD/nano-TiO₂ suspensions were also examined by DLS. To further probe its feasibility as a drug delivery system, the BAD/nano-TiO₂ complex was applied as particulate emulsifiers to fabricate drug-loaded Pickering emulsions. Meanwhile, the morphology properties and the sustained release performance of the drug-loaded Pickering emulsions were also investigated. Experimental results showed that the adsorption of BAD on nano-TiO₂ was achieved by an intermolecular hydrogen bond between the carboxylic functional groups of BAD and the Ti–OH of TiO₂. The adsorption of BAD enhanced the electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance between nano-TiO₂ improving the dispersion stability of nano-TiO₂ at different pH and ionic strength. Additionally, the obtained Pickering emulsions displayed good drug-loading capacity and sustained release performance with the release mechanism of non-Fickian transport, which exhibited great potential in the pharmaceutical field.