Encapsulation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in PLA microspheres using supercritical emulsion extraction to produce bactericidal nanocomposites

In this work, PLA microparticles containing TiO2 (anatase) nanoparticles have been produced using the Continuous Supercritical Emulsion Extraction technique (SEE-C). A stabilized anatase colloidal suspension (15 +/- 5 nm) in ethanol aqueous solution was obtained by precipitation from solutions of titanium alkoxides and directly used as the water internal phase of a water-in-oil in water double emulsion or suspended as a powder in the organic phase of a solid-in-oil in water emulsion. Micro- (0.9 +/- 0.5 mu m) and submicro-particles (203 +/- 40 nm) have been produced, with TiO2 nominal loadings of 1.2, 2.4, and 3.6 wt%. High TiO2 encapsulation efficiencies up to about 90 % have been obtained. PLA/TiO2 particles have been characterized by TEM and XPS to investigate the dispersion of the metal oxide in the polymeric matrix. The photo-assisted bactericidal activity of TiO2-containing microparticles against a biofilm-forming strain of Staphylococcus aureus was investigated in specific assays under UV light. Pure TiO2 nanoparticles and PLA/TiO2 particles showed the same bactericidal activity.