Suppressing non-controlled leakage of hydrophilic payloads from redox-responsive nanocapsules

Nanocapsules with a hydrophilic core are particularly interesting for biomedical and anticorrosion applications since these nanocontainers allow encapsulating a wide range of hydrophilic payloads and controlling their release profiles. However, a major challenge associated with the preparation of these nanocapsules is the non-controlled leakage of hydrophilic payloads from the core due to osmotic pressure. Herein, we present an approach for the preparation of polymer nanocapsules that suppress the non-controlled leakage of payloads and respond to chemical reduction that triggers release of encapsulated payloads. The non-controlled leakage of hydrophilic payloads from the nanocapsules is hindered by increasing the shell thickness. These nanocapsules consisting of reduction-responsive units possess a remarkable release property only under reductive condition while cease non-controlled leakage of the payload in the aqueous release medium. The described nanocapsules can be applied for biomedical and anticorrosion applications in which triggered release of hydrophilic payloads is suitable.