Effects of surfactants on size and structure of amylose nanoparticles prepared by precipitation

The present work investigated the influence of surfactants on size and structure of amylose nanoparticles (ANPs) prepared through precipitation. ANPs were fabricated using absolute ethanol containing surfactants (Tween80, Span80 and mixtures of Tween80 and Span80 with ratios of 25/75, 50/50 and 75/25, respectively) as non-solvents. The obtained ANPs were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that surfactant type, concentration and hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) value had great impact on size of precipitated ANPs. The smallest ANPs with mean size of 155 nm determined by DLS were obtained by using 0.5% (in proportion of the amylose solution volume) of Tween80/Span80 mixture (HLB = 12.33). The precipitated ANPs possessed the V-type crystalline structure no matter whether using the surfactants or not.