Polysaccharide-based polyelectrolytes hollow microcapsules constructed by layer-by-layer technique

Two water-soluble polysaccharide derivatives, carboxymethylated and quarternized glucans (CMGP and QGP) were synthesized for the first time from water-insoluble polysaccharides (GP) extracted from Ganoderma lucidum. Hollow microspheres were constructed using electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition of the CMGP and QGP polyelectrolytes onto colloidal ZnO particles followed by the core decomposition with an acid solution. The structures of the multilayered CMGP/QGP microspheres were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta potential and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results revealed that the multilayer thickness increased regularly from 48 to 145 nm as the number of deposited CMGP/QGP layers was increased from two to seven, and the mean increment of thickness was ∼25 nm per layer, reflecting the high regularity of the layer-by-layer assembly. This work provided an easy method to construct hollow microcapsules with biocompatibility and controlled dimensions.