Guwahati: A panel of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology -  IIT Guwahati,  designed a non-sticking, non-wetting liquid marble that floats in water and releases its contents in a pre-programmed time.

Advanced Functional Materials, a prestigious journal, has published the research. According to one of the researchers, scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati have created liquid marbles that can be pre-programmed for drug administration and cascade chemical reactions.

"We often take medications in the form of tablets, capsules, syrups, ointments, etc. to treat any ailment. The appropriate dose can be delivered at the target spot gradually over the desired amount of time more effectively with a controlled drug delivery system. Another crucial feature is the loading and release of the medication in its soluble form, which is possible with this liquid marble, according to the researchers.

A research team from the IIT Guwahati has used the liquid marbles strategy for the controlled release of pharmaceuticals and programmed chemical reaction under the direction of Dr. Uttam Manna, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Nanotechnology, IIT Guwahati.

The researchers said, "A liquid marble is a non-sticking, non-wetting droplet, in contrast to typical droplets. It is made by encasing a droplet in small, water-repelling hydrophobic particles. Liquid marbles may be rolled, squeezed, and even floated without spilling when placed in a water body. The honeydew that gall-forming aphids emit is covered in a powdered wax to produce liquid marbles in nature.

"Liquid marbles are soft, spherical solids that may be used in a variety of ways by changing the liquid that is contained within them. According to the researchers, some examples are in the fields of sensor platforms, soft robotics, healing agents, and biosystems.

The release of pharmaceuticals from a liquid marble in reaction to a stimulus, like as light, temperature, or electricity, has previously been described, Dr. Manna noted while describing the study challenge. The time-programmed discharge, however, had not yet been completed. A floating liquid marble's lifetime in a pool of water has been chemically altered.

The shell of the nanoclay marbles, which contains the liquid, was built of nanoclay. The researchers changed the nano clay with chemical groups that were either water-loving (hydrophilic) or water-hating (hydrophobic) in order to programme the marbles for scheduled release of the content, Dr. Manna continued.

Dr. Manna said, "A water droplet was placed on a powder bed made up of nanoclay powders that were both hydrophilic and hydrophobic. The relative concentrations of the water-hating and water-loving groups on the nano clay surface affected the characteristics and stability of the liquid marbles."The surface alterations on the nano clay impacted the amount of time it took for the liquid marble to crack and release its contents when placed in a pool of water. By altering the characteristics of the surface groups, we were able to regulate the duration of the content's release, which ranged from seconds to hours. This is how LMs are collapsing like a time bomb, he said.

Te details on the creation of the NC liquid marbles and their application for programmed drug release have been published in Advanced Functional Materials.

Nishanta Barman, Arpita Shome, Saurav Kumar, Priyam Mondal, Karan Jain, Mizuki Tenjimbayashi, and Dr. Uttam Manna are co-authors of the study.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Science and Engineering Research Board, and the Department of Biotechnology all provided funding for this project.