Polymer Functionalized Nanoparticles in Blue Phase LC: Effect of Particle Shape.

Ethylene oxide oligomers and polymers, free and tethered to gold nanoparticles, were dispersed in blue phase liquid crystals (BPLC). Gold nanospheres (AuNPs) and nanorods (AuNRs) were functionalized with thiolated ethylene oxide ligands with molecular weights ranging from 200 to 5000 g/mol. The BPLC mixture (ΔT ~6 °C) was based on the mesogenic acid heterodimers, n-hexylbenzoic acid (6BA) and n--butylcyclohexylcarboxylic acid (4-BCHA) with the chiral dopant (R)-2-octyl 4-[4-(hexyloxy)benzoyloxy]benzoate.

A Snapshot of Transdermal and Topical Drug Delivery Research in Canada.

The minimally- or non-invasive delivery of therapeutic agents through the skin has several advantages compared to other delivery routes and plays an important role in medical care routines. The development and refinement of new technologies is leading to a drastic expansion of the arsenal of drugs that can benefit from this delivery strategy and is further intensifying its impact in medicine. Within Canada, as well, a few research groups have worked on the development of state-of-the-art transdermal delivery technologies.

Advances in the Design of Transdermal Microneedles for Diagnostic and Monitoring Applications.

Due to their intrinsic advantages over classical hypodermic needles, microneedles have received much attention over the last two decades and will likely soon appear in clinics. Although the vast majority of research is focused on designing microneedles for the painless delivery of drugs, their applications for diagnostic purposes have also provided promising results. In this paper, the main advances in the field of microneedles for diagnostic and patient monitoring purposes are introduced and critically discussed.

Hydrogen-Bonded Liquid Crystal Nanocomposites.

Nanoparticle-liquid crystal (NP-LC) composites based on hydrogen bonding were explored using a model system. The ligand shells of 3 nm diameter zirconium dioxide nanoparticles (ZrO2 NPs) were varied to control their interaction with 4-n-hexylbenzoic acid (6BA). The miscibility and effect of the NPs on the nematic order as a function of particle concentration was characterized by polarized optical microscopy (POM), fluorescence microscopy and (2)H NMR spectroscopy.