{"title":"Recent Advances in Improving the Bioavailability of Hydrophobic/Lipophilic Drugs and Their Delivery via Self-Emulsifying Formulations","authors":"R. K. Ameta, Kunjal V. Soni, A. Bhattarai","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010016","url":null,"abstract":"Formulations based on emulsions for enhancing hydrophobic and lipophilic drug delivery and its bioavailability have attracted a lot of interest. As potential therapeutic agents, they are integrated with inert oils, emulsions, surfactant solubility, liposomes, etc.; drug delivering systems that use emulsion formations have emerged as a unique and commercially achievable accession to override the issue of less oral bioavailability in connection with hydrophobic and lipophilic drugs. As an ideal isotropic oil mixture of surfactants and co-solvents, it self-emulsifies and forms fine oil in water emulsions when acquainted with aqueous material. As droplets rapidly pass through the stomach, fine oil promotes the vast spread of the drug all over the GI (gastrointestinal tract) and conquers the slow disintegration commonly seen in solid drug forms. The current status of advancement in technologies for drug carrying has promulgated the expansion of innovative drug carriers for the controlled release of self-emulsifying pellets, tablets, capsules, microspheres, etc., which got a boost for drug delivery usage with self-emulsification. The present review article includes various kinds of formulations based on the size of particles and excipients utilized in emulsion formation for drug delivery mechanisms and the increase in the bioavailability of lipophilic/hydrophobic drugs in the present time.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45004379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zixian Jia, Jiantao Li, Lin Gao, Dezheng Yang, A. Kanaev
{"title":"Dynamic Light Scattering: A Powerful Tool for In Situ Nanoparticle Sizing","authors":"Zixian Jia, Jiantao Li, Lin Gao, Dezheng Yang, A. Kanaev","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010015","url":null,"abstract":"Due to surface effects and quantum size effects, nanomaterials have properties that are vastly different from those of bulk materials due to surface effects. The particle size distribution plays an important role in chemical and physical properties. The measurement and control of this parameter are crucial for nanomaterial synthesis. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is a fast and non-invasive tool used to measure particle size, size distribution and stability in solutions or suspensions during nanomaterial preparation. In this review, we focus on the in situ sizing of nanomaterial preparation in the form of colloids, especially for metal oxide nanoparticles (MONs). The measuring principle, including an overview of sizing techniques, advantages and limitations and theories of DLS were first discussed. The instrument design was then investigated. Ex-situ and in situ configuration of DLS, sample preparations, measurement conditions and reaction cell design for in situ configuration were studied. The MONs preparation monitored by DLS was presented, taking into consideration both ex situ and in situ configuration.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49221297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meng Zhang, Wen-Chang Wu, Zhen Wang, Gang Xie, Xiaohui Guo
{"title":"Boosting Water Oxidation Activity via Carbon–Nitrogen Vacancies in NiFe Prussian Blue Analogue Electrocatalysts","authors":"Meng Zhang, Wen-Chang Wu, Zhen Wang, Gang Xie, Xiaohui Guo","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010014","url":null,"abstract":"The development of electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) is of great significance for hydrogen production. Defect engineering is an effective strategy to improve the OER performance of electrocatalyst by regulating the local electronic and atomic structures of electrocatalysts. Here, we successfully synthesized defective Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) with rich CN vacancies (D-NiFe PBA) as efficient OER electrocatalysts. The optimized D-NiFe PBA exhibited an overpotential of 280 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a superior stability for over 100 h in KOH electrolytes. The formation of CN vacancies in the NiFe PBA could effectively inhibit the loss of Fe active sites, promote the reconstruction of the NiFe oxygen (hydroxide) active layer in the OER process, and further improve the electrocatalytic activity and stability of the VCN-NiFe PBA. This work presents a feasible approach for the wide application of vacancy defects in PBA electrocatalysts.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46863714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
O. M’barki, J. Clements, Luis Salazar, James Machac, Q. P. Nguyen
{"title":"Impact of Paraffin Composition on the Interactions between Waxes, Asphaltenes, and Paraffin Inhibitors in a Light Crude Oil","authors":"O. M’barki, J. Clements, Luis Salazar, James Machac, Q. P. Nguyen","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010013","url":null,"abstract":"The effect of wax molecular weight distribution on the efficacy of two alpha olefin-maleic anhydride paraffin inhibitors (PIs) having different densities of alkyl side-chains were examined in light West Texas crude in the absence and presence of asphaltenes. Interpretation of the data was aided by cross-polarization microscopy. Primary differences in wax crystal morphology appear to be driven by the composition of the wax, with secondary differences being associated with the choice of PI. In the absence of asphaltenes, the effect of wax composition on PI performance (i.e., reducing oil viscosity and wax appearance temperature) is greater for the PI having the higher chain density, with the one having the lower chain density being generally more effective regardless of the wax composition. These differences are diminished in the presence of asphaltenes such that the PI having the higher chain density is somewhat more effective. Trends in both morphology and viscosity suggest a steric effect associated with wax composition that is lessened on interaction of the PIs with asphaltenes.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43820867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Microfluidic Approach to Investigate the Contact Force Needed for Successful Contact-Mediated Nucleation","authors":"G. Kaysan, Theresa Hirsch, Konrad Dubil, M. Kind","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010012","url":null,"abstract":"Emulsions with crystalline dispersed phase fractions are becoming increasingly important in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and life science industries. They can be produced by using two-stage melt emulsification processes. The completeness of the crystallization step is of particular importance as it influences the properties, quality, and shelf life of the products. Subcooled, liquid droplets in agitated vessels may contact an already crystallized particle, leading to so-called contact-mediated nucleation (CMN). Energetically, CMN is a more favorable mechanism than spontaneous nucleation. The CMN happens regularly because melt emulsions are stirred during production and storage. It is assumed that three main factors influence the efficiency of CNM, those being collision frequency, contact time, and contact force. Not all contacts lead to successful nucleation of the liquid droplet, therefore, we used microfluidic experiments with inline measurements of the differential pressure to investigate the minimum contact force needed for successful nucleation. Numerical simulations were performed to support the experimental data obtained. We were able to show that the minimum contact force needed for CMN increases with increasing surfactant concentration in the aqueous phase.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49284531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
N. Baig, Muhammad Jawad Sajid, B. Salhi, I. Abdulazeez
{"title":"Special Wettable Membranes for Oil/Water Separations: A Brief Overview of Properties, Types, and Recent Progress","authors":"N. Baig, Muhammad Jawad Sajid, B. Salhi, I. Abdulazeez","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010011","url":null,"abstract":"Periodical oil spills and massive production of industrial oil wastewater have impacted the aquatic environment and has put the sustainability of the ecosystem at risk. Oil–water separation has emerged as one of the hot areas of research due to its high environmental and societal significance. Special wettable membranes have received significant attention due to their outstanding selectivity, excellent separation efficiency, and high permeation flux. This review briefly discusses the fouling behavior of membranes and various basic wettability models. According to the special wettability, two major classes of membranes are discussed. One is superhydrophobic and superoleophilic; these membranes are selective for oil and reject water and are highly suitable for separating the water-in-oil emulsions. The second class of membranes is superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic; these membranes are highly selective for water, reject the oil, and are suitable for separating the oil-in-water emulsions. The properties and recent progress of the special wettable membranes are concisely discussed in each section. Finally, the review is closed with conclusive remarks and future directions.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42413706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Non-Solvent- and Temperature-Induced Phase Separations of Polylaurolactam Solutions in Benzyl Alcohol as Methods for Producing Microfiltration Membranes","authors":"Svetlana O. Ilyina, T. Anokhina, S. Ilyin","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010010","url":null,"abstract":"The possibility of obtaining porous films through solutions of polylaurolactam (PA12) in benzyl alcohol (BA) was considered. The theoretical calculation of the phase diagram showed the presence of the upper critical solution temperature (UCST) for the PA12/BA system at 157 °C. The PA12 completely dissolved in BA at higher temperatures, but the resulting solutions underwent phase separation upon cooling down to 120–140 °C because of the PA12’s crystallization. The viscosity of the 10–40% PA12 solutions increased according to a power law but remained low and did not exceed 5 Pa·s at 160 °C. Regardless of the concentration, PA12 formed a dispersed phase when its solutions were cooled, which did not allow for the obtention of strong films. On the contrary, the phase separation of the 20–30% PA12 solutions under the action of a non-solvent (isopropanol) leads to the formation of flexible microporous films. The measurement of the porosity, wettability, strength, permeability, and rejection of submicron particles showed the best results for a porous film produced from a 30% solution by non-solvent-induced phase separation. This process makes it possible to obtain a membrane material with a 240 nm particle rejection of 99.6% and a permeate flow of 1.5 kg/m2hbar for contaminated water and 69.9 kg/m2hbar for pure water.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46034559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hayato Takase, Nozomi Watanabe, K. Shiomori, Y. Okamoto, E. Ciptawati, H. Matsune, H. Umakoshi
{"title":"Preparation of Hydrophobic Monolithic Supermacroporous Cryogel Particles for the Separation of Stabilized Oil-in-Water Emulsion","authors":"Hayato Takase, Nozomi Watanabe, K. Shiomori, Y. Okamoto, E. Ciptawati, H. Matsune, H. Umakoshi","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010009","url":null,"abstract":"Here, we prepared hydrophobic cryogel particles with monolithic supermacropores based on poly-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (pTrim) by combining the inverse Leidenfrost effect and cryo-polymerization technique. The hydrophobic cryogel particles prepared by adopting this method demonstrated the separation of the stabilized O/W emulsion with surfactant. The prepared cryogel particles were characterized in terms of macroscopic shape and porous structure. It was found that the cryogel particles had a narrow size distribution and a monolithic supermacroporous structure. The hydrophobicity of the cryogel particles was confirmed by placing aqueous and organic droplets on the particles. Where the organic droplet was immediately adsorbed into the particles, the aqueous droplet remained on the surface of the particle due to repelling force. In addition, after it adsorbed the organic droplet the particle was observed, and the organic solvent was diffused into the entire particle. It was indicated that monolithic pores were distributed from the surface to the interior. Regarding the application of the hydrophobic cryogel particles, we demonstrated the separation of a stabilized oil-in-water emulsion, resulting in the successful removal of the organic solvent from the emulsion.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43100258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. G. Montiel Schneider, P. S. Rivero, Guillermo Arturo Muñoz Medina, Francisco H. Sánchez, V. Lassalle
{"title":"Gd(OH)3 as Modifier of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles—Insights on the Synthesis, Characterization and Stability","authors":"M. G. Montiel Schneider, P. S. Rivero, Guillermo Arturo Muñoz Medina, Francisco H. Sánchez, V. Lassalle","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010008","url":null,"abstract":"Magnetic resonance imaging is one of the most widely used diagnostic techniques, since it is non-invasive and provides high spatial resolution. Contrast agents (CAs) are usually required to improve the contrast capability. CAs can be classified as T1 (or positive) or T2 (or negative) contrast agents. Nowadays, gadolinium chelates (which generate T1 contrast) are the most used in clinical settings. However, the use of these chelates presents some drawbacks associated with their toxicity. Iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been extensively investigated as CA for MRI, especially for their capacity to generate negative contrast. The need for more efficient and safer contrast agents has focused investigations on the development of dual CAs, i.e., CAs that can generate both positive and negative contrast with a single administration. In this sense, nanotechnology appears as an attractive tool to achieve this goal. Nanoparticles can be modified not only to improve the contrast ability of the current CAs but also to enhance their biocompatibility, resolving toxicity issues. With the aim of contributing to the field of development of dual T1/T2 contrast agents for MRI, here, we present the obtained results of the synthesis of hybrid nanoparticles composed of magnetite/maghemite and gadolinium hydroxide. Exhaustive characterization work was conducted in order to understand how the hybrid nanoparticles were formed. The nanoparticles were extensively characterized through FTIR and UV–Vis spectroscopy, TEM and SEM microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, thermogravimetric analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray and vibrating-sample magnetometry. Stabilization studies were carried out to get an idea of the behavior of nanohybrids in physiological media. Special interest was given to the evaluation of Gd3+ leaching. It was found that carbohydrate coating as well as the adsorption of proteins on the surface may improve the stabilization of hybrid nanoparticles.","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41853159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Acknowledgment to the Reviewers of Colloids and Interfaces in 2022","authors":"","doi":"10.3390/colloids7010007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids7010007","url":null,"abstract":"High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review [...]","PeriodicalId":10433,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Interfaces","volume":" 913","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41251761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}