Microfluidic-assisted production of poly(e-caprolactone) and cellulose acetate nanoparticles: effects of polymers, surfactants, and flow rate ratios

This work aimed at comparing two different microfluidic-assisted nanoparticles (NPs) based on poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) and cellulose acetate (CA) in terms of size, size distribution, and morphology by changing the flow rate ratios and surfactants. At the same polymer solutions concentration [0.05 (%w/v)], the DLS and FE-SEM results showed that CA NPs have the average diameter (similar to 37 nm) and PDI (0.035) less than PCL ones. It was also found that the change of surface tension between the polymers and non-solvent phases using poly(vinyl alcohol) or Tween 80 could remarkably increase the diameter of PCL NPs. Finally, the impact of channel length as a function of mixing efficiency on the size of NPs was theoretically discussed via Reynolds and Peclet numbers. The results indicated that the Peclet numbers pertaining to the required length and time of mixing were more than 100, leading to the smaller channel length for effective mixing. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

This study compared two different microfluidic-assisted nanoparticles based on PCL and CA in terms of size, distribution, and morphology, finding that CA NPs had smaller average diameter and PDI than PCL NPs, and changing surface tension could increase PCL NPs diameter. Theoretical discussion on the impact of channel length on NP size suggested that smaller channel length led to more effective mixing.