초록 |
We propose an extremely stable nanoscale oil-in-water emulsion system, in which the amphiphilic block copolymer, poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEO-b-PCL), is tightly packed with lecithin, thereby forming a mechanically robust thin-film at the oil-water inter-face. The interplay of PEO-b-PCL and lecithin leads to a tighter and denser molecular assembly at the interface, thereby yielding highly stable nanoemul-sions. Moreover, our suspension rheology studies indicate that the PEO-b-PCL/lecithin-stabilized nanoemulsion exhibits drop-to-drop attraction over a wide volume fraction of the dispersed oil phase, which enables the production of a drop-percolated emulsion fluid that shows no coalescence or phase separation. Finally, we demonstrate that our nanoemulsion system significantly enhances transdermal delivery efficiency due to its favorable attraction to the skin as well as high diffusivity of the nanoscale emulsion drops. |