The Double Role of Surfactants in Microfluidic-Assisted Nanoparticle Manufacturing

Pier Luca Maffettone – Professor, University of Naples Federico II; Daniele Tammaro – Post doc, University of Naples Federico II; Tommaso Tedeschini – Post doc, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia; Nicola Tirelli – Principle Investigator, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Introduction:

Both lipidic and polymeric nanoparticles are increasingly prepared via microfluidic-assisted processes (1). Microfluidic chips can foul due to material deposition (2), leading to uncertainties in particle size and concentration, and altering the mixing mechanism; these issues are specifically important for 3D-printed (disposable) chips. A pre-treatment with surfactants may make channel surfaces more hydrophilic and thereby reduce fouling. Here we used Pluronic both for priming, and later for the preparation of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (nanoprecipitation) (Fig. 1A).