Consequently, nanocarrier size and surface area strongly influence the fate of nanoparticles within the body. As particle size shrinks, surface area relative to volume increases, allowing for increased particle interaction with its surroundings. įurthermore, it is essential to comprehend how our biological system will respond to nanocarriers. On the other hand, nano-colloids, polymer micelles, dendritic branches, polymer vesicles, and polymer nanoparticles are polymer and dendritic branch-based nanocarriers. Solid lipid nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, nanostructured lipid carriers, and liposomes are examples of lipid-based nanocarriers. Moreover, nanocarriers can be categorized into two types, as shown in Figure 1, based on the constituents used for their manufacture: polymer-based or dendritic and lipid-based nanocarriers. Nanospheres are matrix particles in which pharmaceuticals are uniformly distributed, whereas nanocapsules contain a distinct polymeric membrane surrounding the chemicals of interest, such as drugs, proteins, and additives. Nanoparticles, nanospheres, nanoemulsions, nanocapsules, and nano-sized vesicular carriers, such as niosomes and liposomes, can all be considered as nanocarriers. They have a high surface-to-volume ratio, which can aid in the biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of the targeted compounds. Nanocarriers are colloidal chemicals (drugs, pesticides, fertilizers, and plant growth promoters) that can modify their bioactivation and properties.
The nanoparticles used for drug delivery, known as nanocarriers, offer several benefits, such as the ability to deliver hydrophobic and hydrophilic drug molecules, precision regarding the target, and a high level of stability. In addition, by developing more advanced, effective, and precise techniques, such as machine vision techniques using artificial intelligence, the future of using NDTT for nanocarrier characterization will improve the evaluation of internal quality parameters. Hence, it is highly recommended that in the future, NDTT be developed to assess the toxicity of nanocarriers. Furthermore, NDTT is only used to characterize physicochemical parameters related to the physiological performance of nanocarriers but does not account for nanocarrier toxicity. The compositional and microstructural characterization of nanocarriers through NDTT, such as dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, confocal laser scanning microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, have been comprehensively reviewed. This mini review provides an overview of the applications of non-destructive testing techniques (NDTT) to reveal the characteristics of nanocarriers, considering their surface charge, porosity, size, morphology, and crystalline organization. To achieve specific goals, particle size, surface characteristics, and drug release properties of nanocarriers must be managed. Therefore, the characterization of nanocarriers is critical for understanding their physicochemical properties, which significantly impact their molecular and systemic functioning. They have a high surface-area-to-volume ratio, aiding the targeted drug’s biodistribution and pharmacokinetic properties. The synthesis of tailored and highly engineered multifunctional pharmaceutical nanocarriers is an emerging field of study in drug delivery applications.