Sustainable Production of Drug-Loaded Particles by Membrane Emulsification

Abstract

As the field of drug delivery is expanding into consumer products, it is essential to advance in the development of efficient synthesis technologies while preserving, at the same time, human health and the environment for future generations. Here, the sustainable development of polymeric particles for drug delivery is described. Poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-block-poly(lactide-coglycolide) based particles containing dexamethasone were produced by membrane emulsificationsolvent diffusion methods. The ability of the synthesis process to control particle-size distribution and morphology and its green impactful (energy consumption, simple (sEF) and complete (cEF) E factor) were evaluated. Particles with sufficiently narrow distribution in their droplet size and mean diameter similar to the membrane pore diameter were produced by increasing the dispersed phase flux to 12.84 L h-1 m-2 , minimizing the maximum shear stress to 1.12 Pa and the energy consumption to 3.96 10 5 Jm-3. The impact of the solvent used on size distribution, particles morphology and green performance scores was also studied. More uniform particles, with dense and slightly rough surface, high encapsulation efficiency and drug loading were obtained by replacing Dichloromethane with Ethyl acetate. The E factor was also decreased by 80%. Results demonstrated that membrane emulsification is an environmentally improved method for the production of drug delivery systems with enormous impact in terms of formulation quality, energy consumption reduction and waste minimization.

Microengineered Membranes for Sustainable Production of Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic Solvent-Based Nanoemulsions by Membrane Emulsification for Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity

“…8,10 Consequently, nano- emulsions enhance the bioavailability and bioactivity impact, e.g., enhancing the antimicrobial activity of essential oils. 8,11,12 Direct membrane emulsification has emerged as a sustainable production technology, 13 being a promising alternative to the traditional ultrasound emulsification technique, as 2 orders of magnitude energy saving is involved, and it has garnered interest for producing emulsion droplets of narrow size distribution. 14 It is a pressure-driven process where one phase is dispersed through the membrane pores into a continuous receiving phase.…”

Keratin–Chitosan Microcapsules via Membrane Emulsification and Interfacial Complexation

“…To obtain the same droplet concentration in a system without the inner rod, recirculation of the CP would be required to meet the high shear requirement, resulting in a multiple-pass system, with negative effects on emulsion quality and energy consumption. 6 , 41 …”

“…To obtain the same droplet concentration in a system without the inner rod, recirculation of the CP would be required to meet the high shear requirement, resulting in a multiple-pass system, with negative effects on emulsion quality and energy consumption. 6,41 Scale-up with the continuous xME also showed increased droplet generation frequency, as compared to the batch SCME, leveraging an increased membrane surface area. Consequently, a higher DP flux and emulsion productivity were achieved.…”

“…The use of an inner rod alleviates this problem, with a 79% increase in the droplet concentration compared to the case without a rod in the present work. To obtain the same droplet concentration in a system without the inner rod, recirculation of the CP would be required to meet the high shear requirement, resulting in a multiple-pass system, with negative effects on emulsion quality and energy consumption. , …”

Microflow Nanoprecipitation of Positively Charged Gastroresistant Polymer Nanoparticles of Eudragit® RS100: A Study of Fluid Dynamics and Chemical Parameters

“…Finally, nanoparticles are formed by coalescence/aggregation events until the polymer concentration decreases to reach the solubility concentration [ 40 ]. This simple process has two main constraints: (1) The semipolar solvent should be easily evaporated (low boiling point) to avoid the thermal degradation of the payload and should have a low residual toxicity according to the pharmacopeia (class 3 solvents are preferred against class 1 solvents) [ 41 ]. (2) The fluid dynamics and solvents’ miscibility in the nanoprecipitation process will govern the mixing process and nucleation/growth rates.…”