Liquid and solid solute encapsulation using the Ouzo effect: the magic of phase diagrams

Nanoprecipitation is a powerful spontaneous emulsification technique known for long to generate polymeric particles and capsules. Nevertheless, only recently was this solvent shifting technique rationalize into phase diagrams, giving both a meaning for the physical chemistry of dispersion formation (nluceation/agregation growing process) and a rational for the different solutes that can be precipitated using this technique (e.g. oils, solid molecules, lipids, polymers).
In this presentation, we show how combining the phase diagrams of simple solutes (oils or solid fluorophores) with hydrophilic polymers (polysaccharides, PVA, pluronics) allows picking a domain where both species co-precipitate into a final capsular object (namely the solute surrounded by the polymer). By crosslinking the shell and functionalize it, one obtains capsules loaded inside or on its outskirt with different interesting actives (dyes, meal nanoparticles, biotin..). Concerning fluorophore encapsulation, it is also possible to control the core-confined crystallization of these to generate Agregation Induced Emission (AIE) colloids with enhanced fluorescence activity.