inverse miniemulsion method for synthesis of gelatin nanoparticles in presence of cdi/nhs as a non-toxic cross-linking system

in this research, gelatin nanoparticles were synthesized via inverse miniemulsion method by employing a mixture of a water soluble carbodiimide (cdi) and n-hydroxysuccinimide (nhs) as a non-toxic cross-linking system. the gelatin nanoparticles were characterized for their size and size distribution, morphology and stability and were compared with those of nanoparticles cross-linked by glutaraldehyde (ga) as the most commonly utilized cross-linking agent. the results showed the formation of more homogeneous nanoparticles with smaller size when cdi/nhs used as cross-linking agent under the same synthesis condition. moreover, dilute solution viscosimetry experiments confirmed the stability of the nanoparticles under various physicochemical conditions. the differences in the characteristics of cdi/nhs and ga cross-linked nanoparticles were ascribed to the different nature of network formation using the two cross-linking agents. generally, these results suggested cdi/nhs cross-linked gelatin nanoprticles as an interesting candidate for drug delivery application.