Monodisperse and Nanometric-Sized Calcium Carbonate Particles Synthesis Optimization

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) particles represent an appealing choice as a drug delivery system due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, simplicity and cost-effectiveness of manufacturing, and stimulus-responsiveness. Despite this, the synthesis of CaCO3 particles with controlled size in the nanometer range via a scalable manufacturing method remains a major challenge. Here, by using a co-precipitation technique, we investigated the impact on the particle size of different synthesis parameters, such as the salt concentration, reaction time, stirring speed, and temperature. Among them, the salt concentration and temperature resulted in having a remarkable effect on the particle size, enabling the preparation of well-dispersed spherical nanoparticles with a size below 200 nm. Upon identification of optimized synthesis conditions, the encapsulation of the antitumoral agent resveratrol into CaCO3 nanoparticles, without significantly impacting the overall size and morphology, has been successfully achieved.

Automated summary

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) particles are a promising choice for drug delivery systems due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and stimulus-responsiveness. This study investigated the synthesis parameters that affect the particle size, and found that salt concentration and temperature had a significant impact, allowing the preparation of well-dispersed spherical nanoparticles below 200 nm. The successful encapsulation of the anti-tumor agent resveratrol into CaCO3 nanoparticles, without affecting their overall size and morphology, was achieved under optimized synthesis conditions.