Polymeric particles for vitamin C encapsulation

Abstract

In this work, appropriate polymers for vitamin C-encapsulated reverse micellar particles were sought. It was found that poly(vinyl alcohol) was able to self-assemble into reverse micellar particles through either solvent displacement or solvent coagulation processes. The reverse micellar particles obtained from solvent displacement were larger than those obtained from solvent coagulation process. Type of solvent and anti-solvent used in the solvent coagulation process did not significantly affect the particle size. Vitamin C was loaded into both reverse micellar particles. The results indicated that particles obtained from solvent coagulation process could encapsulate vitamin C more effectively (32.29 % encapsulation efficiency at 16.14 % loading) than those from solvent displacement (7.72 % encapsulation efficiency at 3.86 % loading).