Photocleavable microcapsules built from photoreactive nanospheres

We show how photo-cross-linking of nanoparticles within the micrometer-sized thin oil shell of water-oil-water emulsion droplets leads to a new species of optically addressable microcontainers. The inner water droplet of these emulsions may contain drugs, dyes, or other water-soluble components, leading to filled containers. The thickness, mechanical stability, and light resistance of the container walls can be controlled in a simple way by the amount and adjustable photoreactivity of the nanoparticles. Importantly, the chemical bonds between the nanoparticles constituting the microcapsule shell can be cleaved photochemically by irradiation with UV light. This optically controlled destruction of our microcontainers opens up a pathway to controlled release of the enclosed components, as will be illustrated by the example of enclosed cyclodextrin molecules.