PREPARATION OF NANOPARTICLES USING A MEMBRANE CONTACTOR: INFLUENCE OF PROCESS PARAMETERS
Multi-scale and/or multi-disciplinary approach to process-product innovation
Nanotechnology & Nanomanufacturing (T3-1P)
Keywords: membrane contactor, membrane reactor, nanoparticles, nanospheres, nanocapsules
Colloidal delivery systems such as oil-in-water emulsions, liposomes, microparticles and nanoparticles, show great potential as a means of delivering a drug to its site of action efficiently, thereby minimizing any unwanted toxic effects. Among these colloidal systems, nanoparticles (nanospheres and nanocapsules) are ranging in size from about 10 to 1000 nm [1]. Nanoparticles have been investigated for the entrapment of a wide variety of drugs, for applications ranging from ophthalmic delivery to carriers in chemotherapy. The present study investigates the preparation of nanoparticles with a membrane contactor to allow large scale production of nanoparticles.
The principle is the following [2]. The organic phase is pressed through the membrane pores allowing the formation of small droplets. The reaction occurs between the droplets of the organic phase and the aqueous phase flowing tangentially to the membrane surface. Two methods of nanoparticles preparation are investigated: the nanoprecipitation and the interfacial polymerization methods.
The influence of process parameters (membrane pore size, flowrate and organic phase pressure) on the organic phase flux and on nanoparticles size is investigated for the nanoprecipitation method and the interfacial polymerization method. Very high fluxes are obtained with the 0.1 micron pore size microfiltration membrane (1.6 m3/h.m2), leading to the preparation of 1.8 10-3 m3 nanoparticles, with an average diameter of 360 nm, in 4 min.
The main advantage of this membrane contactor is the high flux obtained with microfiltration membranes, making possible scaling-up for industrial applications. Other advantages of this membrane contactor are its versatibility for the preparation of either nanocapsules or nanospheres, by methods involving a polymerization of dispersed monomers or a dispersion of preformed polymers, and the control of the average nanoparticles size by an appropriate choice of the membrane.
Reference
[1] E. Allémann, R. Gurny, E. Doelker, Drug-loaded nanoparticles- Preparation methods and drug targeting issues, Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm., 39 (1993) 173-191
[2] C. Charcosset, H. Fessi, Preparation of nanoparticles with a membrane contactor, in press, J. Membrane Sci. 266 (2005) 115-120
Please consider this abstract only for a POSTER PRESENTATION, Thank you
Presented Tuesday 18, 13:30 to 15:00, in session Nanotechnology & Nanomanufacturing (T3-1P).
