Conjugated polyelectrolyte capsules: light activated antimicrobials

A method of preparing hollow conjugated polyelectrolyte (HCPE) microcapsules comprising:

• providing a plurality of sacrificial cores wherein said sacrificial cores comprise a salt particle with low water solubility;
• coating said sacrificial cores with a polyelectrolyte layer wherein said polyelectrolyte comprising a multiplicity of charged repeating units with a counter ion;
• additionally coating said polyelectrolyte layer with an additional polyelectrolyte layer, wherein said additional polyelectrolyte comprising a multiplicity of charged repeating units with a counter ion of opposite charge to said counter ion of the layer upon which said additional polyelectrolyte layer is additionally coated;
• optionally repeating said step of additionally coating until a desired number of additional polyelectrolyte layers are formed, wherein at least one of said polyelectrolyte or additional polyelectrolyte layers comprises a conjugated polyelectrolyte layer wherein a portion of said multiplicity of charged repeating units are pi-conjugated;
• and
• removing said sacrificial cores, wherein said step of removing comprises dissolving a species formed from said salt particle by contacting said salt particle with an acid, base, metal complexing agent or any combination thereof, wherein a hollow core is formed in said HCPE microcapsule.