A simple confined impingement jets mixer for flash nanoprecipitation

Abstract

Johnson and Prud'homme (2003. AICHE J 49:2264-2282) introduced the confined impingement jets (CIJ) mixer to prepare nanoparticles loaded with hydrophobic compounds (e.g., drugs, inks, fragrances, or pheromones) via flash nanoprecipitation (FNP). We have modified the original CIJ design to allow hand operation, eliminating the need for a syringe pump, and we added a second antisolvent dilution stage. Impingement mixing requires equal flow momentum from two opposing jets, one containing the drug in organic solvent and the other containing an antisolvent, typically water. The subsequent dilution step in the new design allows rapid quenching with high antisolvent concentration that enhances nanoparticle stability. This new CIJ with dilution (CIJ-D) mixer is a simple, cheap, and efficient device to produce nanoparticles. We have made 55 nm diameter β-carotene nanoparticles using the CIJ-D mixer. They are stable and reproducible in terms of particle size and distribution. We have also compared the performance of our CIJ-D mixer with the vortex mixer, which can operate at unequal flow rates (Liu et al., 2008. Chem Eng Sci 63:2829-2842), to make β-carotene-containing particles over a series of turbulent conditions. On the basis of dynamic light scattering measurements, the new CIJ-D mixer produces stable particles of a size similar to the vortex mixer. Our CIJ-D design requires less volume and provides an easily operated and inexpensive tool to produce nanoparticles via FNP and to evaluate new nanoparticle formulation.

Assessment of the relative performance of a confined impinging jets mixer and a multi-inlet vortex mixer for curcumin nanoparticle production

“…The internal configurations and dimensions of the two mixers are basically the same as reported in previous studies [9,13]. Both mixers were refabricated in our university workshops based on the literature data and information provided by their inventors.…”

“…For ease of comparison between the two mixers, the overall Re of the mixing system is expressed as the sum total of Re's of individual streams (i = 2 for CIJ-D-M; and i = 4 for MIVM) as follows [9,13]:…”

“…The idea of the MIVM is to preserve the capability of the CIJM for efficient mixing while allowing a higher supersaturation level to be attained and the momentum from each stream to contribute independently to the mixing process. As an alternative approach to circumventing the shortcoming of 1:1 solvent volume ratio with the CIJM, Han et al modified the original design of the CIJM with the introduction of a second dilution (quenching) step [13], which serves to increase the supersaturation as well as to minimize Ostwald ripening and solute recrystallization [14]. This new CIJ-with-dilution mixer (CIJ-D-M) also possesses the advantage of being manually operable, eliminating the reliance on syringe pumps for solvent delivery.…”

“…For this purpose, we refabricated a two-stream CIJ-D-M and a four-stream MVIM based on the original engineering design by their inventors [9,13]. Curcumin (CUR) was selected as the model drug for the study mainly because it not only has a log P value ($3) typical of most drugs and a well-characterized physicochemical profile, but also displays a wide array of pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory [16], antioxidant [17], chemopreventive [18], anti-beta-amyloid [19] and anticancer properties [20], all of which are beneficial to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and various cancers.…”

Constrained-volume assembly of organometal confined in polymer to fabricate multi-heteroatom doped carbon for oxygen reduction reaction

“…The interior structure of CIJ mixer is Tshape mixer (Fig. S2), where syringe pumps are employed to drive two opposing liquid streams at high velocity and collide in the mixing chamber [40,41]. A syringe containing PS-c-PAN and (Ph 3 P) 2 Fe(CO) 3 dissolved in THF was placed at the inlet of stream 1, and a syringe containing H 2 O was placed at the inlet of stream 2.…”