DEVELOPMENT OF LIQUID CRYSTALLINE NANOPARTICLES

Work package:
Development of liquid crystalline nanoparticles Internship supervisor(s) name: Barbara Lonetti, researcher ; Diana Ciuculescu-Pradines, assistant professor and Mallorie Tourbin, assistant professor e-mail: barbara.lonetti@utoulouse.fr; eliza.ciuculescu-pradines@utoulouse.fr; mallorie.tourbin@toulouse- inp.fr group: Ideas and IRPI teams Location Laboratory: Chemistry of colloids, polymers & complex assemblies Softmat – UMR 5623 Laboratory: Laboratoire de Genie Chimique LGC– UMR 5503 This research master's degree research project could be followed by a PhD It will depend on the responses to the funding applications submitted Liquid crystalline nanoparticles (LCN), particularly cubosomes and hexosomes, have attracted strong interest due to their stability, encapsulation capacity, sustained release properties, templating properties for the synthesis of various functional materials, which are highly relevant for drug delivery and material synthesis 1,2. Their internal organization is characterized by highly stable structures combining hydrophobic regions with aqueous channels, capable of encapsulating both hydrophilic and hydrophobic species. Both lipid and copolymer can be formulated as LCN 3,4. Conventional top-down and bottom-up strategies are already available for producing LCNs from lipids, and these approaches are now beginning to be successfully applied to amphiphilic block copolymers. However, to overcome some of the limitations associated with these conventional methods, the development of alternative processes such as spray-drying is being considered.5 This technique offers significant advantages for generating dry LCN precursor powders through atomization-drying, facilitating storage, transport, and long-term stabilization. This internship will be carried out in two laboratories: SoftMat, which develops lipid- and copolymer-based LCNs using conventional methods, and LGC-ENSIACET, which is developing the spray-drying approach. The tasks assigned to the student will include: i) Preparation and characterization of lipid-based LCNs, in close connection with the systems currently developed within the SoftMat laboratory. ii) Synthesis and characterization of biobased, biodegradable block copolymers via ring-opening polymerization (ROP), with compositions specifically tailored for the formation of cubosomes and hexosomes. iii) Evaluation of the copolymers for cubosome and hexosome formation using conventional preparation methods. iv) Production of LCN precursor powders by spray-drying, using systems adapted from the conventional approach. The main characterization techniques that will be employed are: Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopy (TEM, SEM), Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) for the characterization of the assemblies, and NMR, Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC), and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) for the characterization of the polymers.