Nanotechnology

RM Exchange Dynamics


All processes that use RMs as nanoreactors involve the exchange of contents between RM populations. While there are mature theoretical models for describing the stochastic nature of RM exchange, there is minimal experimental data to permit prediction of RM exchange rates given knowledge of the RM system’s composition. We are comprehensively measuring exchange as a function of composition using stopped-flow fluorescence experiments to generate such predictive models. These are complimented by compositional and diffusion analysis by NMR. A main challenge is understanding how the composition of the RM system (surfactant, water content, organic solvent, etc.) dictates the elastic energy of the interface (EG) thereby modulating the rate of inelastic collisions that lead to RM content exchange. These efforts are supported by funds from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (PRF # 61678-UR6).

Nanoparticle Synthesis (Quantum Dots)

RMs have been widely employed for the synthesis of nanoparticles, yet most synthetic methods are developed purely empirically. We are combining our expertise in RM applications and our developing understanding of RM exchange rates to understand how RM composition dictates the formation of nanoparticles. Our initial study1 has explored the formation of quantum dots composed of cadmium sulfate using a variety of solvents and water contents. This comprehensive analysis showed that the quality of the nanoparticle is directly related to the rate of exchange, suggesting that slowed nanoparticle formation results in higher quality particles. Our ongoing efforts seek to better characterize the early stages of nanoparticle growth and to combine nanoparticle synthesis with our ability to encapsulate proteins such that we can streamline the creation of protein-nanoparticle conjugates for biomedical and diagnostic applications.


  1. Johnson CL, Scorzo AV, Webber NK, Weyhmiller AA, Douglas AV, Carrolo G, Calabrese AR, Callaway KA, Hughes CD, Mawson M, Nucci NV. Systematic analysis of nanoparticle synthesis in reverse micelles using CdS quantum dots as a model system. J Phys Chem C (in revision).

Protein Storage and Delivery

One of the main strengths of our application of RMs is our ability to encapsulate proteins without disrupting their structures. We use a mixture of 10MAG and LDAO, as characterized by the Wand group1, but we are modifying the mixtures used for structural biology to be more biocompatible. We aim to develop systems that can serve to enhance encapsulation of proteins in biocompatible solvents for delivery of protein therapeutics or for long-term storage of protein therapeutics at room temperature. Our initial study2 investigated formulations composed of 10MAG/LDAO in nearly a dozen solvents, testing their ability to encapsulate hydrophilic cargo while maintaining low toxicity to eukaryotic cells. Our analysis showed that there is an important tradeoff between encapsulation efficiency and toxicity dictated primarily by the hydrophobicity of the solvent.


1. Dodevski, I.; Nucci, Nathaniel V.; Valentine, Kathleen G.; Sidhu, Gurnimrat K.; O’Brien, Evan S.; Pardi, Arthur; Wand, A. Joshua. Optimized Reverse Micelle Surfactant System for High-Resolution NMR Spectroscopy of Encapsulated Proteins and Nucleic Acids Dissolved in Low-Viscosity Fluids. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2014), 136(9), 3465-3474

2. Sanders AB, Zangaro, JT, Webber NK, Ricci SL, Work HM, Dutko SB, Fasano TJ, Iovine JC, Douglas TV, Vasile MA, Rajan AA, Lofland SA, Casey K, Baker G, Calhoun R, Richards E, Yang D, Carone B, Nucci NV. Optimization and Characterization of Novel Formulations for Hydrophilic Biological Drug Encapsulation (in preparation).