Polyelectrolyte Capsules with Tunable Shell Behavior Fabricated by the Simple Layer-by-Layer Technique for the Control of the Release and Reactivity of Small Guests

A novel simple protocol for the layer-by-layer coating of uncharged organic substrates (hydrophobic carboxylic acid esters, CAEs) and control of their loading/release behavior has been developed. The approach involves the preliminary treatment of CAEs with the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide followed by poly­(acrylic acid)/polyethyleneimine alternate deposition. The basic hydrolysis of the substrates is used to spectrophotometrically control the loading/release behavior through monitoring the absorbency of the reaction product <i>p</i>-nitrophenolate ion. Unlike the reactivity of free CAEs, highly sensitive to the solution pH, and the presence of micellar catalysts, the reaction rate of the loaded substrates is unaffected by reaction conditions and can be administered by the capsule design (numbers of deposition cycles, adjusted pH, ultrasonication). The developed protocol makes it possible to omit the use of the sacrificial template and stages of its removal. Capsules corresponding to the biorelevant size criterion, with diameter of ≤200 nm, are obtained. They can be successfully applied for sustaining the dosage of different specimens with the desirable rate and for the control of the guest reactivity by tuning the shell permeability