Mass production and size control of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles through controlled microvortices.

Kim, Yongtae; Lee Chung, Bomy; Ma, Mingming; Mulder, Willem J M; Fayad, Zahi A; Farokhzad, Omid C; Langer, Robert · Nano Lett · 2012

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Lipid-polymer hybrid (LPH) nanoparticles can deliver a wide range of therapeutic compounds in a controlled manner. LPH nanoparticle syntheses using microfluidics improve the mixing process but are restricted by a low throughput. In this study, we present a pattern-tunable microvortex platform that allows mass production and size control of LPH nanoparticles with superior reproducibility and homogeneity. We demonstrate that by varying flow rates (i.e., Reynolds number (30-150)) we can control the nanoparticle size (30-170 nm) with high productivity (∼3 g/hour) and low polydispersity (∼0.1). Our approach may contribute to efficient development and optimization of a wide range of multicomponent nanoparticles for medical imaging and drug delivery.

Medical subject headings