Porous nanocomposite of layered double hydroxide nanosheet and chitosan biopolymer for cosmetic carrier application

The porous nanocomposite of layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets and naturally abundant chitosan biopolymer was developed for facile uptake and selective release of cosmetic liposome capsules (50–200 nm). This study investigated the calcination-reconstruction method to obtain a well-organized and porous LDH/chitosan polymer structure. We used BET analysis and confocal fluorescence microscopy images to show the porous structure and anion-acceptable LDH surface of the nanocomposite. The nanocomposite exhibited a 64.4 m²/g BET surface area, which is eight times higher than commercial LDH particles. These properties allow for facile uptake and controlled release of large liposome particles, depending on the solution pH and anions. This result suggests that the nanocomposite polymer network effectively blocks liposome release. Moreover, we successfully reused collected nanocomposites several times after washing with ethanol to remove residual liposomes.