Preparation of poly(MePEGCA-co-HDCA) nanoparticles with confined impinging jets reactor: experimental and modeling study.
In this work, the biodegradable copolymer poly(methoxypolyethyleneglycolcyanoacrylate-co-hexadecylcyanoacrylate) is used to prepare nanoparticles via solvent displacement in a confined impinging jets reactor (CIJR). For comparison, nanoparticles constituted by the homopolymer counterpart are also investigated. The CIJR is a small passive mixer in which very fast turbulent mixing of the solvent (i.e., acetone and tetrahydrofuran) and of the antisolvent (i.e., water) solutions occurs under controlled conditions. The effect of the initial copolymer concentration, solvent type, antisolvent-to-solvent ratio, and mixing rate inside the mixer on the final nanoparticle size distribution, surface properties, and morphology is investigated from the experimental point of view. The effect of some of these parameters is studied by means of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, capable of quantifying the mixing conditions inside the CIJR. Results show that the CIJR can be profitably used for producing nanoparticles with controlled characteristics, that there is a clear correlation between the mixing rate calculated by CFD and the mean nanoparticle size, and therefore that CFD can be used to design, optimize, and scale-up these processes.
Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica, Politecnico di Torino, Torino 10129, Italy.
Federica
F
Lince
Sara
S
Bolognesi
Daniele L
DL
Marchisio
Barbara
B
Stella
Franco
F
Dosio
Antonello A
AA
Barresi
Luigi
L
Cattel
D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D003487:Cyanoacrylates / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D004867:Equipment Design; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015394:Molecular Structure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003487:Cyanoacrylates; D004337:Drug Carriers; C504655:poly (methoxypolyethyleneglycol cyanoacrylate-co-n-hexadecyl cyanoacrylate); D011092:Polyethylene Glycols