Controlled release of lysozyme based core/shells structured alginate beads with CaCO3 microparticles using Pickering emulsion template and in situ gelation

To employ dual advantages of emulsion and gel, a facile approach was investigated to fabricate core/shells structured hydrogel beads based on sodium alginate (SA) via Pickering emulsion template and in situ gelation. The encapsulation and controlled release behavior were further studied using lysozyme (Ly) as the model protein. The optical micrographs and SEM images indicated the SA beads could well disperse with the size about 150 μm. CaCO3 microparticles were strong adhesive onto SA gel. It showed that 96.51 ± 0.62% Ly was loaded into the hydrogel beads. The released behavior of Ly could be regulated by external pH condition, and displayed highest release rate at pH 5.0. Whereas the lowest release rate was recorded at pH 7.0. The released behavior well followed the Hixcon-Crowell model which indicated that the release mechanism of Ly followed the corrosion diffusion law. The worth-while endeavor provide an artful and facile approach using Pickering emulsion template and in situ gelation to fabricate core/shells structured SA beads with high load capacity and controlled regulation of the entrapped functional component.