Complex, coacervation

Table 1 Hsts representative examples of capsule shell materials used to produce commercial microcapsules along with preferred appHcations. The gelatin—gum arabic complex coacervate treated with glutaraldehyde is specified as nonedible for the intended appHcation, ie, carbonless copy paper, but it has been approved for limited consumption as a shell material for the encapsulation of selected food flavors. Shell material costs vary greatly. The cheapest acceptable shell materials capable of providing desired performance are favored, however, defining the optimal shell material for a given appHcation is not an easy task.

Complex Coacervation. This process occurs ia aqueous media and is used primarily to encapsulate water-iminiscible Hquids or water-iasoluble soHds (7). In the complex coacervation of gelatin with gum arabic (Eig. 2), a water-iasoluble core material is dispersed to a desired drop size ia a warm gelatin solution. After gum arabic and water are added to this emulsion, pH of the aqueous phase is typically adjusted to pH 4.0—4.5. This causes a Hquid complex coacervate of gelatin, gum arabic, and water to form. When the coacervate adsorbs on the surface of the core material, a Hquid complex coacervate film surrounds the dispersed core material thereby forming embryo microcapsules. The system is cooled, often below 10°C, ia order to gel the Hquid coacervate sheU. Glutaraldehyde is added and allowed to chemically cross-link the capsule sheU. After treatment with glutaraldehyde, the capsules are either coated onto a substrate or dried to a free-flow powder. 

Eig. 2. Elow diagram of a typical encapsulation process based on the complex coacervation of gelatin with gum arabic. 

Any pair of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes capable of forming a Hquid complex coacervate can be used to form microcapsules by complex... 

A wide variety of capsules loaded with water-immiscible or water-iasoluble materials have been prepared by complex coacervation. Capsule size typically ranges from 20—1000 p.m, but capsules outside this range can be prepared. Core contents usually are 80—95 wt %. Complex coacervation processes are adversely affected by active agents that have finite water solubiUty, are surface-active, or are unstable at pH values of 4.0—5.0. The shell of dry complex coacervate capsules is sensitive to variations ia atmospheric moisture content and becomes plasticized at elevated humidities. 

Qv, X. Y., Zeng, Z. P. Jiang, J. G. (2011). Preparation of lutein microencapsulation by complex coacervation method and its physicochemical properties and stability. Food Hydrocolloids, Vol. 25, 6, (August 2011), pp. (1596-1603), ISSN 0268-005X... 

The typical microencapsulation process via complex coacervation is illustrated in Figure 6.7. 

Wilson, C. G. Tomlinson, E. Davis, S. S. Olejnik, O., Altered ocular absorption and disposition of sodium cromoglycate upon ion-pair and complex coacervate formation with dodecylbenzyldimethyl-ammonium chloride, J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 31, 749-753 (1981). 

Keywords Bio artificial pancreas, biomaterials, complex coacervation, immunoisolation, microencapsulation, polyelectrolytes, water soluble polymers. 

Water Soluble Polymers for Immunoisolation I Complex Coacervation and Cytotoxicity... 

The following guidelines can be utilized for the preparation of stable microcap-sular membranes from the complex coacervation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. 

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