Nanostructured Sensing Emulsion Droplets and Particles: Properties and Formulation by Membrane Emulsification

Responsive particles can adapt to surrounding environments regulating the transport of molecules with specifi c functional activity or convert chemical and biochemical signals into optical, electrical, thermal and mechanical signals, and vice versa. Th ese materials are playing an increasingly important part in several ranges of applications, such as drug delivery, diagnostics, tissue engineering, biosensors, coatings and textiles. Microfabrication techniques which permit the creation of particles that possess a combination of structural and functional features have tremendous potential in the development of new products with improved quality for medical, food, cosmetic or chemical applications. Membrane emulsifi cation is relatively new technology for the precise, selective and fl exible manufacturing of micro- nano-particulates with target size, composition, structure and function. In this chapter, membrane emulsifi cation technology and its use in the preparation of sensing particles are presented.