Solid lipid nanoparticles: continuous and potential large-scale nanoprecipitation production in static mixers

This work aimed at developing continuous and scalable nanoprecipitation synthesis of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) by mixing lipids acetonic solution with water using static mixers. The developed platform exhibited good control over the nanoprecipitation process and enabled the production of SLN below 200 nm at a throughput of 37.5-150 g/h (for 25 mg/ml lipid solution at a flow rate of 25-100 ml/min). Among the several process parameters investigated, the lipid concentration played primary role in influencing the size of the SLN and higher lipid concentration resulted in relatively larger particles. Fenofibrate, a model drug, has been successfully loaded into the SLN. Our work demonstrates the potential of applying static mixing-nanoprecipitation for continuous and large scale production of SLN.