Fabrication of chitosan gel droplets via crosslinking of inverse Pickering emulsifications

Hydrophobic and dispersible functionalized reduced graphene oxide (FrGO) was employed to prepare chitosan gel droplets by crosslinking an inverse Pickering emulsion. The emulsion was prepared using toluene as the continuous phase and a chitosan aqueous solution as the dispersed phase. The effects of the FrGO concentration and the water/oil ratio on the chitosan droplet morphology were studied. At appropriate concentrations, the FrGO acted as a stabilizer and chitosan gel droplets were formed. Decreasing the FrGO concentration or increasing the water/oil ratio was unfavorable to the formation of chitosan droplets. Using this method, drug loaded chitosan gel droplets (microgels) were prepared and their release profiles as well as the factors that influence the drug release were investigated.