Advances in Uniform Polymer Microspheres and Microcapsules: Preparation and Biomedical Applications

Microspheres and microcapsules have been widely used in biomedical field, such as delivery systems for drugs, vaccines. Uniform particle is required for precise drug delivery and disease treatment, since the particle diameter is a key factor which controls the pharmacokinetics and efficacy of loaded drug. However, there is no universal method to prepare uniform particles either from monomer or preformed polymer raw materials. We have developed two membrane emulsification techniques (MET) to prepare uniform particles with controllable size. In this review, we introduce two MET processes and their mechanisms, and how to develop MET to different emulsion systems to obtain various uniform microspheres and microcapsules with interesting morphologies. Then, the advantages of uniform particles on biomedical application results are focused. Finally, particle design and applications as Chassis to form synthetic vaccine are described. What is the most favorite and original chemistry developed in your research group? We clarified the mechanism for obtaining uniform microspheres and microcapsules in O/W, W/O and double emulsion systems, which enabled us to develop the technique to a universal technique, successfully preparing various uniform particles including hydrophobic, hydrophilic and composite functional particles, and leading to the original systematic studies on biomedical applications including Synthetic Vaccine. How do you get into this specific field? Could you please share some experiences with our readers? I started the research on preparation of nanospheres from my master course. At that time, I knew there were few universal methods to obtain uniform microspheres and microcapsules. So, after I became an assistant professor, I began to consider this scientific topic. How do you supervise your students? Our group motto is Enjoy Science, Enjoy Work, Enjoy Life. I tried to lead the students to like their research, and tried to find interesting results with students together based on their primary experimental results. What is the most important personality for scientific research? Pure, Passion, Perseverance. How do you keep balance between research and family? Work hard, and let my family know I am enjoyable and happy with my research, getting support and encouragement from family. Who influences you mostly in your life? My father. He always read books at the desk. He always gave me encouragement no matter happy or sad.