期刊
CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS OF LIPIDS
卷 172, 期 -, 页码 20-30出版社
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2013.04.006
关键词
Liposome synthesis; Coacervation; Ethanol injection; Microfluidics; Hydrodynamic stability
资金
- Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, through a special IRHPA grant
- DuPont, Wilmington
Ethanol injection and variations of it are a class of methods where two miscible phases-one of which contains dissolved lipids-are mixed together leading to the self-assembly of lipid molecules to form liposomes. This method has been suggested, among other applications, for in situ synthesis of liposomes as drug delivery capsules. However, the mechanism that leads to a specific size selection of the liposomes in solution based self-assembly in general, and in flow-focussing microfluidic devices in particular, has so far not been established. Here we report two aspects of this problem. A simple and easily fabricated device for the synthesis of monodisperse unilamellar liposomes in a co-axial flow-focussing microfluidic geometry is presented. We also show that the size of liposomes is dependent on the extent of micro-convective mixing of the two miscible phases. Here, a viscosity stratification induced hydrodynamic instability leads to a gentle micro-mixing which results in larger liposome size than when the streams are mixed turbulently. The results are in sharp contrast to a purely diffusive mixing in macroscopic laminar flow that was believed to occur under these conditions. Further precise quantification of the mixing characteristics should provide the insights to develop a general theory for size selection for the class of ethanol injection methods. This will also lay grounds for obtaining empirical evidence that will enable better control of liposome sizes and for designing drug encapsulation and delivery devices. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据