Polyelectrolyte Multilayers on Soft Colloidal Nanosurfaces: A New Life for the Layer-By-Layer Method

Abstract

The Layer-by-Layer (LbL) method is a well-established method for the assembly of nanomaterials with controlled structure and functionality through the alternate deposition onto a template of two mutual interacting molecules, e.g., polyelectrolytes bearing opposite charge. The current development of this methodology has allowed the fabrication of a broad range of systems by assembling different types of molecules onto substrates with different chemical nature, size, or shape, resulting in numerous applications for LbL systems. In particular, the use of soft colloidal nanosurfaces, including nanogels, vesicles, liposomes, micelles, and emulsion droplets as a template for the assembly of LbL materials has undergone a significant growth in recent years due to their potential impact on the design of platforms for the encapsulation and controlled release of active molecules. This review proposes an analysis of some of the current trends on the fabrication of LbL materials using soft colloidal nanosurfaces, including liposomes, emulsion droplets, or even cells, as templates. Furthermore, some fundamental aspects related to deposition methodologies commonly used for fabricating LbL materials on colloidal templates together with the most fundamental physicochemical aspects involved in the assembly of LbL materials will also be discussed.

Easy Preparation of Liposome@PDA Microspheres for Fast and Highly Efficient Removal of Methylene Blue from Water

“…Liposomes also find application in a wide variety of fields: reconstitution of membrane proteins, delivery of drugs and fluorescent probes, functionalization of surfaces for biomedical applications, synthesis of nanomaterials, and much more [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. In addition, liposomes were used as colloidal templates for the preparation of nano and micro materials with controlled structure and functionality, exploiting either the aqueous core, such as a microreactor, or the surface for the controlled polymerization of different precursors [ 25 , 26 ].…”

Polyelectrolyte Multilayered Capsules as Biomedical Tools

“…This section is intended to provide a general overview of the state of the art of the fabrication of PEMUCs by exploiting the LbL method, and presents a general description of the most common methodological approach for obtaining hierarchical LbL capsules. A more complete perspective on the manufacturing of LbL material can be found in previous publications [14,42,43].…”

“…The approach presents two main drawbacks: The long time required for material fabrication, and the high quantities of material demanded for the fabrication of each coating layer. In brief, the deposition of a multilayer by alternate dip-coating relies on the alternate exposure of the substrate to solutions containing the mutual interacting molecules that will form the multilayer, i.e., the layering solutions, with intermediate washing cycles between the deposition of adjacent layers to avoid cross-contamination phenomena [42,47,49,50]. This method has been traditionally used for the assembly of LbL materials using flat macroscopic substrates as templates, providing an important guide for optimizing the assembly of LbL films on more complex geometries.…”

Development of Polymer-Based Nanoformulations for Glioblastoma Brain Cancer Therapy and Diagnosis: An Update

“…Based on the nature of drugs to be loaded and their route of administration, different synthesis methods were implemented for the production of polymer NPs that include solvent evaporation, solvent diffusion, nanoprecipitation, emulsification, reverse salting out, nano-capsules nano-precipitation, layer-by-layer (LbL) method, etc. [ 71 , 72 , 73 ]. The molecular weight, crystallinity, and stability of polymers and the drug’s physicochemical properties can be analysed to develop polymeric NPs for drug administration to the brain.…”