Abstract:Porous silicon layers on wafers are commonly converted into particles by mechanical milling or ultrasonic fragmentation. The former technique can rapidly generate large batches of microparticles. The latter technique is commonly used for making nanoparticles but processing times are very long and yields, where reported, are often very low. With both processing techniques, the porosity and surface area of the particles generated are often assumed to be similar to those of the parent film. We demonstrate that th… Show more
“…The fabrication process is another important consideration to tailor pore size for the loading of specific molecules in a top-down approach, using highly tunable electrochemical anodisation [12]. Comminution processes such as ball milling or sonication can then be used to produce particles within a chosen size range [13].…”
Biodegradable porous silicon (pSi) particles are under development for drug delivery applications. The optimum particle size very much depends on medical use, and microparticles can outperform nanoparticles in specific instances. Here we demonstrate the ability of sedimentation to size-select ultrasmall (1–10 μm) nanoporous microparticles in common solvents. Size tunability is quantified for 1–24 h of sedimentation. Experimental values of settling times in ethanol and water are compared to those calculated using Stokes’ Law. Differences can arise due to particle agglomeration, internal gas generation and incomplete wetting. Air-dried and supercritically-dried pSi powders are shown to have, for example, their median diameter d (0.5) particle sizes reduced from 13 to 1 μm and from 20 to 3 μm, using sedimentation times of 6 and 2 h respectively. Such filtered microparticles also have much narrower size distributions and are hence suitable for administration in 27 gauge microneedles, commonly used in intravitreal drug delivery.
“…The fabrication process is another important consideration to tailor pore size for the loading of specific molecules in a top-down approach, using highly tunable electrochemical anodisation [12]. Comminution processes such as ball milling or sonication can then be used to produce particles within a chosen size range [13].…”
Biodegradable porous silicon (pSi) particles are under development for drug delivery applications. The optimum particle size very much depends on medical use, and microparticles can outperform nanoparticles in specific instances. Here we demonstrate the ability of sedimentation to size-select ultrasmall (1–10 μm) nanoporous microparticles in common solvents. Size tunability is quantified for 1–24 h of sedimentation. Experimental values of settling times in ethanol and water are compared to those calculated using Stokes’ Law. Differences can arise due to particle agglomeration, internal gas generation and incomplete wetting. Air-dried and supercritically-dried pSi powders are shown to have, for example, their median diameter d (0.5) particle sizes reduced from 13 to 1 μm and from 20 to 3 μm, using sedimentation times of 6 and 2 h respectively. Such filtered microparticles also have much narrower size distributions and are hence suitable for administration in 27 gauge microneedles, commonly used in intravitreal drug delivery.
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