ABSTRACT
Surfactants and polymers are extensively used as excipients in drug delivery. However, although the understanding of the physicochemical properties and behavior of such compounds both in solution and at interfaces has undergone a dramatic development in the last couple of decades, the new findings are frequently not implemented to the full extent possible in various application areas. One reason for this is probably that surface and colloid chemistry is a relatively young scientific discipline, which only during the few last decades has matured into a broad research area, and which commonly is not extensively covered in the curriculum in the training of researchers for adjacent research areas, such as galenic pharmacy. Things are changing, however, and scientists and engineers in both academia and industry are paying increasing attention to surface and colloid chemistry and recognizing its importance, e.g., for the design and controlled use of advanced drug delivery formulations. Such formulations play an important role in modern drug delivery, since the demands on delivery vehicles increase, e.g., regarding drug release rate, drug solubilization capacity, minimization of drug degradation, reduction of drug toxicity, etc., but also since the vehicle as such may be used to control the drug uptake and biological response. This is the case not the least for new biopharmaceuticals being developed based on recent advances in genomics and proteomics. A particular role in this context is taken by surfactants and polymers, which may form various structures which may be
useful for drug delivery applications. The purpose of the present book is therefore to go through the basics of surfactant and polymer surface activity and self-assembly, and the various types of structures formed by such compounds, as well as how such structures may be used in drug delivery.
