Ionically crosslinked polyelectrolyte nanocarriers: Recent advances and open problems

Over the past two decades, nanocarriers prepared through ionic crosslinking of polyelectrolytes have been explored in a wide range of applications, including drug delivery, medical imaging and food science. The design and use of these materials require control over their size distributions, stability, and payload uptake and release properties. To this end, we focus on recent progress made towards understanding the physical and colloid chemistry underlying the formation and properties of ionically crosslinked nanocarriers and provide commentary on some unresolved problems.