title: Stable Encapsulated Air Nanobubbles in Water.
abstract: The dispersion into water of nanocapsules bearing a highly hydrophobic fluorinated internal lining yielded encapsulated air nanobubbles. These bubbles, like their micrometer-sized counterparts (microbubbles), effectively reflected ultrasound. More importantly, the nanobubbles survived under ultrasonication 100-times longer than a commercial microbubble sample that is currently in clinical use. We justify this unprecedented stability theoretically. These nanobubbles, owing to their small size and potential ability to permeate the capillary networks of tissues, may expand the applications of microbubbles in diagnostic ultrasonography and find new applications in ultrasound-regulated drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, 90 Bader Lane, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada).
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, 90 Bader Lane, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada). gliu@chem.queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Guojun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, 90 Bader Lane, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada).
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, 18 Stuart Street, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada).
authors.forename: Terry Yantian
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston General Hospital FAPC 3, 76 Stuart Street, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 2V7 (Canada).
authors.forename: Amer M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Johri
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, 90 Bader Lane, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada).
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, 90 Bader Lane, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada).
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: assembly; block copolymers; nanobubbles; nanocapsules; ultrasonography