Carbonate microparticles for hollow polyelectrolyte capsules fabrication

Calcium, cadmium and manganese carbonate crystals were used as core material for fabrication of hollow polyelectrolyte capsules by means of the Layer-by-Layer assembly. The use of inorganic templates is a way of fabrication of clean capsules, which is essential for basic research and is a significant step towards their biocompatibility. The ways of particle and capsule fabrication and characterization are described. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) measurements proved the purity of the hollow capsules from the core material. The capsules obtained were characterized by scanning force microscopy, and confocal fluorescence microscopy. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.