Microfluidic Flow-Focusing for Size-Controlled Formation of Cubosomes
Celso J. O. Ferreira, Margarida Barros, Marco Fornasier, Alexandre Chícharo, Claudia Botelho, Maria Elisabete C. D. Real Oliveira, Ulf Olsson, Bruno F. B. Silva
TL;DR
This paper introduces a microfluidic method to create cubosomes of controlled size for drug delivery applications.
Contribution
A microfluidic flow-focusing technique is presented for tunable size control of cubosomes during solvent exchange.
Findings
Cubosome sizes can be tuned from 195 nm to 125 nm by adjusting flow rate ratios.
The method shows statistically significant size control compared to bulk solvent exchange.
Polydispersity remains low-to-moderate despite some variability from pumping instability.
Abstract
Cubosomescolloidal dispersions of lipid inverted bicontinuous cubic phasesare promising nanosystems for advanced drug delivery applications. Here, we report on a microfluidic hydrodynamic flow-focusing approach for solvent exchange that enables the preparation of cubosomes with tunable size. The approach involves a preliminary step where the lipid phytantriol, the main building block, is first dissolved in ethanol to create a precursor solution. This precursor is subsequently flowed through the central channel of a cross-shaped microfluidic device, where it is focused by two lateral streams of water containing the stabilizer Pluronic F127. As water and ethanol mix, the polarity shift forces phytantriol to self-assemble into cubosomes, while the laminar-flow conditions imposed by the microchannels provide controlled mixing conditions. By adjusting the flow rate ratio (Q R ) between…
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Taxonomy
TopicsInnovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation · Microfluidic and Capillary Electrophoresis Applications · Nanofabrication and Lithography Techniques