Described herein are coated chloride salt particles, including NaCl/TiO.sub.2 and NaCl/SiO.sub.2 core/shell particles, along with methods of making and using the same.

A method for controlling the encapsulation efficiency and burst release of water soluble molecules from nanoparticle and microparticle formulations produced by the inverted Flash NanoPrecipitation (iFNP) process and subsequent processing steps is presented. The processing steps and materials used can be adjusted to tune the encapsulation efficiency and burst release of the encapsulated water-soluble material. The encapsulation efficiency of the soluble agent in the particles and the burst release of the soluble agent from the particles can be controlled by: (1) the copolymers used in the assembly or coating process, (2) the degree of crosslinking of the nanoparticle core, (3) the incorporation of small molecule or polymeric additives, and/or (4) the processing and release conditions employed.

The invention describes a method for the synthesis of compounds comprising the steps of: (a) compartmentalising two or more sets of primary compounds into microcapsules; such that a proportion of the microcapsules contains two or more compounds; and (b) forming secondary compounds in the microcapsules by chemical reactions between primary compounds from different sets; wherein one or both of steps (a) and (b) is performed under microfluidic control; preferably electronic microfluidic control The invention further allows for the identification of compounds which bind to a target component of a biochemical system or modulate the activity of the target, and which is co-compartmentalised into the microcapsules.

A microchannel device, including a homogenization chamber, a deceleration-cooling channel, an acidity regulation channel, a microchannel reaction chamber, and an ultrafiltration desalination chamber. A method for preparing high-oil-load microcapsules using the aforementioned microchannel device, including: preparing an aqueous phase and an oil phase; feeding the aqueous phase and the oil phase to the homogenization chamber to form a first emulsion; cooling the first emulsion; adjusting pH of the first emulsion with dilute hydrochloric acid; feeding the first emulsion to the microchannel reaction chamber to form a second emulsion with a core-shell structure; removing Na.sup.+ and Cl.sup.− from the second emulsion; and subjecting the second emulsion to spray drying to obtain the high-oil-load microcapsule powder.

A single phase, organic-inorganic sol-gel with controlled rheology that can be solidified readily and converted into a ceramic material is provided. The organic-inorganic sol-gel may be uranium-based or cerium-based. Highly spherical ceramic microspheres such as uranium or cerium gel microspheres are fabricated and are able to be converted to homogeneous ceramics after thermal decomposition at high temperatures. Pure phase UC.sub.2 can be obtained upon carbothermal reaction. Pure phase U.sub.2N.sub.3 can also be obtained after converting UC.sub.2 to U.sub.2N.sub.3.

A single phase, organic-inorganic sol-gel with controlled rheology that can be solidified readily and converted into a ceramic material is provided. The organic-inorganic sol-gel may be uranium-based or cerium-based. Highly spherical ceramic microspheres such as uranium or cerium gel microspheres are fabricated and are able to be converted to homogeneous ceramics after thermal decomposition at high temperatures. Pure phase UC.sub.2 can be obtained upon carbothermal reaction. Pure phase U.sub.2N.sub.3 can also be obtained after converting UC.sub.2 to U.sub.2N.sub.3.

The invention describes a method for the synthesis of compounds comprising the steps of: (a) compartmentalising two or more sets of primary compounds into microcapsules; such that a proportion of the microcapsules contains two or more compounds; and (b) forming secondary compounds in the microcapsules by chemical reactions between primary compounds from different sets; wherein one or both of steps (a) and (b) is performed under microfluidic control; preferably electronic microfluidic control The invention further allows for the identification of compounds which bind to a target component of a biochemical system or modulate the activity of the target, and which is co-compartmentalised into the microcapsules.

Compositions containing a first reactant; an emulsion comprising a surfactant and silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) nanoparticles; and a carrier fluid containing a second reactant and methods of making. When the first and second reactants react, they generate heat. At a first time, the emulsion surrounds the first reactant, and the carrier fluid with the second reactant surrounds the emulsion. At a second time, the emulsion surrounds a first portion of the first reactant; and a second portion of the first reactant surrounds the emulsion.

Compositions containing a first reactant; an emulsion comprising a surfactant and silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) nanoparticles; and a carrier fluid containing a second reactant and methods of making. When the first and second reactants react, they generate heat. At a first time, the emulsion surrounds the first reactant, and the carrier fluid with the second reactant surrounds the emulsion. At a second time, the emulsion surrounds a first portion of the first reactant; and a second portion of the first reactant surrounds the emulsion.

Articles comprises iron oxide colloidal nanocrystals arranged within chains, wherein the chains of nanocrystals are embedded within a material used to form the article or a transfer medium used to transfer a color to the article are described. The material or transfer medium includes elastic properties that allow the nanocrystals to display a temporary color determined by the strength of an external force applied to the article, and the material or transfer medium includes memory properties that cause the displayed temporary color to dissipate when the external force is removed, wherein the dissipation of the displayed temporary color is sufficiently slow as to be visually observable by an average observer's unaided eye.